More security in RAS Cargo thanks to important procedural changes
There are important current changes in RAS-Cargo, which I will present below. France has taken on a pioneering role here. It is about changes that will increase the safety of air freight transportation in the future. After all, a not inconsiderable proportion of dangerous goods transported worldwide are now transported by air.
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At the most recent meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Dangerous Goods Committee, it was decided that in future, lithium-ion batteries packed together with devices must not exceed a state of charge of 30 percent. Previously, this maximum charge level limit only applied to batteries that were transported by air alone. For batteries that are not packed “with” but “in” devices, e.g. in laptop computers, in toys or in medical devices, the 30 per cent upper limit only applies as a recommendation, not as a mandatory requirement. A recommendation is also only made for battery-powered vehicles.
A transitional period of one year and a de minimis limit of 2.7 Wh apply to the new regulation. The new regulation therefore does not apply to weaker batteries. There are also exemptions, but these must be applied for. In principle, the ICAO’s decision must still be confirmed at a further meeting before it is officially published in 2025/26 and subsequently declared binding by the IATA as a legal publication. There are also currently no plans to apply these regulations to road transport or shipping logistics.
It is therefore very important for anyone involved in the shipping of batteries to keep up to date with all announcements over the coming months.