As consumer demand for lithium batteries continues to grow – 17% per year - four of the world’s leading air cargo and freight forwarding associations have joined forces in the fight against rogue lithium battery shipments.
The International Air Transport Association (Iata), Global Shippers Forum (GSf), International Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations (Fiata) and the International Air Cargo Association (Tiaca) have called on governments across the world to crack down on counterfeit, mislabelled and non-compliant shipments and issue criminal sanctions on those responsible.
In a statement on Wednesday, Nick Careen, Iata senior VP of Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security, said the organisations were proactively trying to combat the rogue delivery of lithium batteries after an increase in the number of non-compliant shipments.
"Dangerous goods, including lithium batteries, are safe to transport if managed according to international regulations and standards. But we are seeing an increase in the number of incidents in which rogue shippers are not complying,” said Careen.
“The industry is uniting to raise awareness of the need to comply. This includes the launch of an incident reporting tool so that information on rogue shippers is shared. And we are asking governments to get much tougher with fines and penalties.”
“Government authorities must step up and take responsibility for stopping rogue producers and exporters. Abuses of dangerous goods shipping regulations, which place aircraft and passenger safety at risk, must be criminalised," said Glyn Hughes, Iata Global Head of Cargo. – Bjorn Vorster
