FedEx adopts new battery rules
Effective 1 January 2017, FedEx Express said it will no longer accept stand-alone lithium-metal batteries (categorised as UN 3090) and stand-alone lithium ion batteries (categorised as UN 3480) prepared as IATA Section II shipments. Instead, shipments containing UN 3090 or UN 3480 lithium batteries must be offered as fully regulated IATA Section IA or IB shipments, with a Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods and all the required dangerous goods markings and labelling.
Section IA/IB UN 3090 and UN 3480 are fully regulated Class 9 Dangerous Goods and classified as Inaccessible Dangerous Goods (IDG). FedEx Express service options are allowed for Inaccessible Dangerous Goods (IDG) and an IDG surcharge will apply.
Customers who ship lithium metal batteries (UN3090) with FedEx must be pre-approved by Federal Express to comply with the FedEx operator variations in IATA DG Regulations. Customers who were previously pre-approved by FedEx on the UN 3090 Section II list will automatically be placed on the UN 3090 Section I list.
The new policy changes will not impact UN 3481 and UN 3091 (lithium batteries packed with equipment and lithium batteries contained in equipment) except that after January 1, 2017 the UN number needs to be included on the IATA Lithium Battery Handling label when the label is used.
