IATA expects lithium battery bellyhold ban to be lifted in t

THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) says the earliest a ban on the transport of lithium-ion battery shipments on passenger aircraft could be lifted is 2018.

That's the opinion of IATA dangerous goods assistant director Dave Brennan, who believes that is the time it will take to develop appropriate packing standards.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Cargo Symposium in Berlin, IATA's director general Tony Tyler said the safety concerns over their carriage had arisen because of irregular manufacture, mislabelling and improper packing, reported Lloyd's Loading List.

"Banning their transport by air does not tackle this problem. It is vital governments redouble their efforts to crack down on counterfeit battery producers and shippers that fail to comply with the regulations," said Mr Tyler, former CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways.

"Governments also need to enhance their oversight to prevent counterfeit producers illegally declaring battery shipments as normal cargo," he said.

IATA said it respected the announcement by the ICAO Governing Council to ban lithium-ion batteries from cargo in passenger planes, but noted that "the vast majority of incidents involving lithium batteries have been from shipments where the batteries were not in compliance with the existing regulations.

"There have also been reports of seizures by customs and consumer protection authorities where the lithium batteries have been identified as being of counterfeit manufacture," IATA said.

IATA said teamwork would be critical in resolving the issues in order to allow the resumption of the shipping of lithium-ion batteries as bellyhold cargo. Some 400 million lithium-ion batteries are produced each week, with a significant number carried by air.