Freight forwarders have received advice from the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO), adopting a recommendation from the Air Navigation Commission, which places an interim prohibition on the carriage of lithium-ion batteries from being shipped as cargo on passenger aircraft, effective April 1, 2016.
Lithium metal batteries, which are used in watches, have already been banned as cargo on passenger planes globally. These are not rechargeable.
Lithium-ion batteries, which are rechargeable, are used in mobile phones and laptops. In Montreal on 22 February, the ICAO Council adopted the policy that lithium-ion batteries, bearing the Dangerous Goods number UN 3480, be forbidden (on an interim basis) as cargo on passenger aircraft. The prohibition applied to lithium-ion batteries being shipped as cargo and does not apply to them packed with, or contained in, equipment. They can, however, still be transported on cargo planes.
