Updated October 2026
If your perfume cartons still say 'Consumer Commodity ORM-D', they carry a mark that was retired effective January 1, 2021. The square-on-point limited-quantity mark took its place, and the bottles inside ship under the same ground exception as before.
The ORM-D 'Consumer Commodity' mark was retired effective January 1, 2021. The square-on-point limited-quantity mark under 49 CFR 172.315 replaced it. Small consumer quantities of alcohol-based fragrance still ship by ground under the limited-quantity exception, just as they did before. A carton still printed with ORM-D needs new artwork.
By The Fulfillment.com team
Anyone who has shipped perfume for a while has seen "ORM-D" or "Consumer Commodity ORM-D" printed on a carton. For years it was the correct mark for small consumer quantities of hazardous materials going by ground inside the US. Alcohol-based fragrance is a flammable liquid, so it was one of the most common cases. That mark is retired now. The same shipment carries a different symbol, and a carton still printed with the old artwork is out of date.
The change is smaller than it sounds. A small bottle of eau de parfum can still travel as an ordinary ground parcel, without the placards of a full hazmat load. The rule that allows it has a new name, and the box has a new symbol. The mark is one small part of the rules for shipping perfume. Our fragrance fulfillment overview covers the rest.
The dates and rules below are public US Department of Transportation regulations.
ORM-D stood for "Other Regulated Material, Domestic". It was a US-only category for small quantities of certain hazardous materials packed for retail sale. These were consumer goods, alcohol-based perfume and cologne among them, that pose a limited hazard in transport when the amounts are small. A parcel that qualified was marked "Consumer Commodity ORM-D" and could move by ground without the full labels and placards of a regulated hazmat shipment. The trouble was that the category existed only in US rules. The international hazardous-materials system had nothing like it.
The US Department of Transportation brought its rules in line with the international ones, which call the same idea a "limited quantity". ORM-D was wound down and folded into limited quantity in stages over several years. For ground (surface) transport, ORM-D markings could not be used after December 31, 2020. So the date for a fragrance brand to remember is January 1, 2021. From then on, a conforming consumer-size perfume shipment carries the limited-quantity mark.
The limited-quantity mark is defined at 49 CFR 172.315. It is a square turned on its point, like a diamond, with a black border, solid black triangles at the top and bottom, and a white center. The international rules use the same symbol, which was the reason for the change. On a perfume shipment that qualifies as a limited quantity and is packed to match, this mark on the outer package tells the carrier and any inspector what it is. The "Consumer Commodity ORM-D" wording is gone entirely.
Everything except the mark. Alcohol-based perfume is classified the same way, ships under the same ground exception, and has to fit the same package and bottle limits it did under ORM-D. Our guide to how to ship perfume legally sets out those rules and limits in full.
The mark tells a carrier your package meets the limited-quantity rules, and the package still has to meet them. Check three things on your artwork and cartons.
Nobody can say which mark a carton needs until the product inside is classified, so that is where we start. Every fragrance SKU gets classified from its safety data sheet at receiving. That one step tells us which cartons get the limited-quantity mark and which go out unmarked.
The alcohol-based units go by ground within the DOT limited-quantity rules, packed to resist leaks in conforming combination packaging. The carrier side is a separate matter: the hazmat agreements that let a limited quantity be tendered by ground, and how a box of your formulations is marked. Ask us to confirm that carrier handling when you request a quote, so the mark and the lane fit how and where you ship.
We handle perfume that is already finished, sealed and bottled. We are a 3PL and don't compound, fill or bottle anything, and a kit we build is finished units placed in a box.
Both mark the same kind of shipment: a small consumer quantity of a hazardous material, such as alcohol-based perfume. ORM-D, short for 'Other Regulated Material, Domestic', was the older US-only mark, printed as 'Consumer Commodity ORM-D'. It was retired effective January 1, 2021. Its replacement is the square-on-point limited-quantity mark under 49 CFR 172.315, the same symbol used in the international rules. It is a square turned on its point, with a black border, solid black triangles at the top and bottom, and a white center. Small quantities packed to the rules still get the same exception they always did. Only the mark on the box changed.
ORM-D existed only in US rules. The international hazardous-materials rules had no such category, and their word for the same idea is 'limited quantity'. When the US Department of Transportation brought its rules in line with the international ones, ORM-D was wound down and folded into limited quantity. That happened in steps. For ground (surface) shipments, ORM-D markings could not be used after December 31, 2020, so January 1, 2021 is the date a perfume brand should treat as the switch.
No. The ORM-D 'Consumer Commodity' mark has been retired since January 1, 2021, so a box printed with it is out of date. Nothing else about the shipment changed. The same alcohol-based fragrance, in the same quantities and the same packaging, still ships by ground under the limited-quantity exception. It just needs the square-on-point limited-quantity mark, and any carton artwork that still shows ORM-D should be replaced.
When a conforming limited quantity ships by ground inside the US, the square-on-point mark (49 CFR 172.315) goes on the outer box. A package that meets the limited-quantity rules is spared the hazmat labels, specially tested packaging and placards a fully regulated shipment needs. To meet them, the bottles go in a combination packaging that weighs no more than 30 kg (66 lb) gross. For UN1266 perfume at Packing Group II, each bottle can hold up to 1.0 L, and Special Provision 149 raises that to 5 L. The bottles and the outer carton have to actually meet those conditions. The mark shows that they do. It can't stand in for packaging that doesn't.
The right mark depends on how each product is classified. When your fragrance arrives, we check each product's safety data sheet (SDS). Alcohol-based units are tagged as a Class 3 flammable liquid (UN1266) for the ground limited-quantity lane, and alcohol-free, non-flammable units ship the usual way. That classification is the step we control. How the carrier handles a limited quantity of your particular formulations, including how it is tendered and marked, is something to confirm with us when you request a quote.