IATA has created a new industry certification programme to improve the safe handling and transport of lithium batteries across the supply chain.
The programme, the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) Lithium Battery, has been designed to enable shippers and freight forwarders of lithium battery products to meet their safety obligations by complying with the applicable transport regulations.
“Lithium batteries are critical power sources for many consumer goods on which we all rely. It is vital that we can ship them safely by air either with finished products or as components in global supply chains. That’s why we developed the CEIV Lithium Battery certification. It gives shippers and airlines assurance that certified logistic companies operate to the highest safety and security standards when shipping lithium batteries,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Shipments of lithium batteries (alone or with finished products) must comply with well-established global safety standards for how they are manufactured, tested, packed, marked, labelled, and documented. These requirements are a key element of the IATA Lithium Battery Shipping Regulations (LBSR) and of the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) which combine regulatory and operational input from industry and government experts.
CEVA Logistics was the first company to achieve CEIV Lithium Battery certification, for its operations at Hong Kong and Amsterdam Schiphol airports, following an extensive period of piloting.
“We congratulate CEVA Logistics on becoming the first logistics company to achieve CEIV Lithium Battery certification. From cargo handlers, ground handling companies, freight forwarders and shipping companies, the more stakeholders along the value chain who participate in CEIV Lithium Battery, the stronger and more effective it will be for the industry. Ultimately, we all want to see a network of CEIV Lithium Battery trade lanes with participants certified at origin, destination and in transit points,” said Walsh.
