Lithium Batteries as Cargo in 2016 Update III
Additional Changes for Lithium Ion Batteries
On 22 February the ICAO Council adopted the recommendation of the ICAO Air Navigation
Commission (ANC) that lithium ion batteries, UN 3480, Packing Instruction 965 only, be
forbidden, on an interim basis, as cargo on passenger aircraft. The prohibition does not
apply to lithium ion batteries packed with equipment or lithium ion batteries contained in
equipment, UN 3481, Packing Instruction 966 and Packing Instruction 967 respectively.
The prohibition becomes effective 1 April 2016, as applies to the requirements that lithium
ion batteries, UN 3480, PI 965, to be shipped at a state of charge of no more than 30% of
their rated capacity, and other changes advised through the addendum to the 57th edition
of the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) issued in January of this year.
A further addendum to the DGR will be issued later this week to align with the issuance
of Addendum 4 to the ICAO Technical Instructions. The addenda to the DGR are
available from the IATA website at:
http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Pages/download.aspx
The final changes for lithium batteries effective 1 April 2016 are as follows.
Changes to the Provisions for Lithium Batteries
Effective 1 April 2016
1. UN 3480, PI 965, Section IA and IB. Lithium ion cells and batteries must be offered for
transport at a state of charge (SoC) not exceeding 30% of their rated design capacity.
Cells and/or batteries at a SoC of greater than 30% may only be shipped with the
approval of the State of Origin and the State of the Operator under the written
conditions established by those authorities.
UN 3480, PI 965, Section IA and IB are forbidden for carriage on passenger aircraft. All
packages must bear the Cargo Aircraft Only label in addition to the other marks and
labels required by the Regulations.
Note:
Guidance and methodology for determining the rated capacity can be found in the UN
Manual of Tests and Criteria, 5th Revised Edition, Amend. 1 and Amend. 2, Section
38.3.2.3.
2. UN 3480, PI 965, Section II. Lithium ion cells and batteries must be offered for
transport at a state of charge (SoC) not exceeding 30% of their rated design capacity.
All packages prepared in accordance with Section II of PI 965 are forbidden for
carriage on passenger aircraft. All packages must bear the Cargo Aircraft Only label in
addition to the other marks and labels required by the Regulations.
A shipper is not permitted to offer for transport more than one (1) package prepared
according to Section II in any single consignment.
Not more than one (1) package prepared in accordance with Section II of PI 965 may
be placed into an overpack. When the package is placed in an overpack, the lithium
battery handling label and Cargo Aircraft Only label required by this packing instruction
must either be clearly visible or the label must be affixed on the outside of the overpack
and the overpack must be marked with the word “Overpack”.
3. UN 3090, PI 968, Section II. A shipper is not permitted to present for transport more
than one (1) package prepared according to Section II in any single consignment.
Not more than one (1) package prepared in accordance with Section II of PI 968 may
be placed into an overpack. When the package is placed in an overpack, the lithium
battery handling label and Cargo Aircraft Only label required by this packing instruction
must either be clearly visible or the label must be affixed on the outside of the overpack
and the overpack must be marked with the word “Overpack”.
4. Packages prepared according to Section II of PI 965 and PI 968 must be offered to the
operator separately from other cargo and must not be loaded into a unit load device
(ULD) before being offered to the operator.
You can contact the IATA Dangerous Goods Support team if you have questions or
concerns that may not have been addressed in this document at: dangood@iata.org.
