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portation regulations related to lithium-ion
batteries and, in particular, lithium-ion
power banks.
What’s On The Horizon For Lithium
Battery Transport Regulations
In early December 2014, the sub-
committee completed its work on a number
of battery-related papers that will affect the
transport and testing of lithium batteries. It is
important to understand the changes and
when they will go into effect in order to
maintain compliant shipping practices within
your organizations.
The most significant changes came from
the UN Subcommittee of Experts on the
Transportation of Dangerous Goods and will
affect international shipping regulations. The
discussions among this group have triggered
larger industry-wide discussions specifically
related to power banks and how they are clas-
sified for testing and shipping purposes.
These discussions will likely have an even
greater impact on the shipment of these
devices, and changes in this area should be
expected in 2015.
Adopted changes that directly affect the
shipment of power banks (also called power
packs) include the following:
1. There is a change on the implementation
of the lithium battery handling label for
use with small lithium batteries shipped
alone, as well as those contained in or
shipped with equipment. The new label is
consistent with the current label used for
air shipments. The new label will become
mandatory on January 1, 2019, although it
can begin to be used voluntarily on January
1, 2017. Additionally, some of the paper-
work requirements for these small batteries
were eliminated due to redundancy.
2. At its 2014 meeting, the IATA proposed
that power packs should be regulated as
batteries instead of as cells and batteries
contained in equipment as they are now.
This proposal was not adopted and power
banks are currently still shipped under
the less stringent requirements of cells
and batteries contained in equipment.
However, the issue is not completely
closed; it will be discussed at a number
of industry meetings this year. Stay
tuned.
3. There are new marking requirements for
consignments of lithium cells and batteries
contained in equipment. The current
exemption from marking of packages that
contain fewer than four cells or two batter-
ies installed in equipment will be updated
based on the subcommittee decision to
adopt new requirements that limit the
exception to the following:
a. Packages containing only button cells or
batteries installed in equipment (includ-
ing circuit boards);
b.Packages containing no more than four
cells or two batteries installed in equip-
ment, where there are not more than two
packages in the consignment.
The new requirements mean that if
more than two exempt packages are con-
tained in a larger package (over-pack), then
the overall package will now be required to
have the label and associated markings and
documentation. This change will become
effective January 1, 2017.
4. As a clarification on how to handle single
cell batteries for shipping, a definition was
adopted that aligns with the current defini-
tion in the UN Manual of Tests and
Criteria. This definition states that single
cell batteries are to be considered cells and
should be shipped in accordance with the
regulations for cells for the purposes of the
exception for small cells and batteries. This
allows for a larger number of units to be
80 • PPB • MARCH 2015 THINK
Learn More On Demand
These relevant and content-rich
webinars are available on-demand
from PPAI by clicking the Education
and E-learning tabs at .
Transporting Electronics
Speaker: Cindy Millsaps, president
and CEO of Energy Assurance, LLC
60 minutes 1 MAS Point Free
If you ship batteries and other
technology products this session is a
must for you to attend. Shipping reg-
ulations exist for air, land and sea to
protect against hazards. Learn first
hand what your obligations are under
these complex regulations in plain
language.
Focus On Lithium-Ion Batteries and
Power Banks
Speakers: Ibrahim Jilani, the North
America Program Manager for Small
Batteries at UL and Anne Lardner-
Stone, director of public affairs at PPAI.
60 minutes 1 MAS Point Free
This course will address the critical
need for safety and certification when
sourcing lithium batteries. Learn what
you need to look out for to keep you
and your channel partners on the
right side of compliance.
Product Safety Summit 2014:
Electronic and Lithium Battery
Promotional Products: Get A
Charge Without Getting Zapped!
60 minutes 1.3 MAS Points $15
PPAI members; $30 nonmembers
Speakers: Don Mays, director of
product safety and quality at Deloitte
& Touche LLP; Ibrahim Jilani, North
America program manager for Small
Batteries at UL; and Cindy Millsaps,
president and CEO of Energy
Assurance, LLC
Tech products are one of the
industry’s hottest product categories,
but what do you really know about
sourcing them? This session will
address the critical need for safety
and certification when sourcing lithium
batteries and other electronics.
The close of 2014 brought a number of signifi-
cant changes to the transportation regulations
related to lithium-ion batteries and, in particular,
lithium-ion power banks.”
“