Altor guide · 2026-09-24

Lithium battery shipment rejected fix when UN 3481 comes back

The equipment carton is back on the dock. The booking is gone. The discrepancy note cites the lithium line. A lithium battery shipment rejected fix starts with that note and with the carton in front of you, not with a second print of the declaration that just failed. The acceptance desk at the cargo terminal does not grade reprints. It grades this consignment against the current entry for how the battery sits relative to the equipment.

What the regulation actually requires

A US originating air offer is still 49 CFR 173.22. The person who offers the material classes and describes it, and determines that the packaging is authorized. 49 CFR 173.185 is the US lithium packaging section. 49 CFR 172.202 is the basic description. When a Shipper's Declaration is required, IATA DGR 8.1 is the form, IATA DGR 8.1.6.9 is nature and quantity, and IATA DGR 8.1.6.12 with 49 CFR 172.204 is the certification. 49 CFR 172.204(c)(3) adds that the applicable air transport requirements have been met. Acceptance is IATA DGR 9.1.3, and 49 CFR 175.30 beside it. A miss parks the freight.

UN 3481 is two rows on the current ICAO TI Table 3-1 extract.

Lithium ion batteries contained in equipment, including lithium ion polymer batteries, are Class 9, with no packing group. Passenger aircraft: packing instruction 967 at 5 kg per package. Cargo aircraft: packing instruction 967 at 35 kg per package. Excepted quantity E0. State variation US 3. Special provisions on that row include A48 and A220.

Lithium ion batteries packed with equipment, including lithium ion polymer batteries, are Class 9, with no packing group. Passenger aircraft: packing instruction 966 at 5 kg per package. Cargo aircraft: packing instruction 966 at 35 kg per package. Excepted quantity E0. State variation US 3. A48 and A220 are not on this row.

Those 5 kg and 35 kg figures are table maxima per package. IATA DGR Section 5 can set a lower limit for the part of the instruction that applies.

UN 3480 is batteries alone. Passenger aircraft is forbidden. Cargo aircraft shows packing instruction 965, and the cargo maximum cell is blank. Take the quantity from inside that instruction. Excepted quantity E0. State variation US 3.

When the batteries are packed with the equipment, state of charge can be why the line came back. The IATA DGR 67th Edition, effective 1 January 2026, made a 30 percent of rated capacity limit mandatory for certain consignments under packing instruction 966. Section I requires it in all cases. Section II requires it when the cells or batteries exceed the watt hour rating in the current instruction. Read that instruction before you add a state of charge statement. The limit does not transfer to packing instruction 967. The 2026 change is summarized at https://altor.consulting/lithium-2026.html.

US 3 is printed on both UN 3481 rows, and on UN 3480. The text of that variation, and the operator variation for this carrier, is in IATA DGR 2.8. The code in the column is not the restriction.

The mistake people make

They reprint the failed declaration with today's date and tender the same packing instruction.

They write 967 because the invoice says equipment, while spare packs sit in the box uninstalled. Packed with equipment is 966. They write 966 because a spare was on the pick list, while the only battery here is installed. Contained in equipment is 967.

They rename cells shipped alone as UN 3481 so a passenger flight can take them. Alone is UN 3480, and that passenger column is forbidden.

They put the cargo figure on a passenger booking. Five kilograms is the passenger table maximum. Thirty five kilograms is the cargo table maximum.

They fix the paper and leave the carton. They use the generic striped Class 9 diamond when the current section wants the lithium battery label or mark. They paste Section 14 of the SDS onto a fresh form and treat that page as the correction.

They change one cell and keep the signature that certified the old line. They skip 2.8 because the carrier moves lithium often. US 3 is still on the row.

Lithium battery shipment rejected fix after the discrepancy note

Pull the note and the declaration that was tendered. Read the cited cell against this freight.

Spares in the package with the device are UN 3481, packing instruction 966, Class 9, no packing group. Batteries installed in the device, with no spare line, are UN 3481, packing instruction 967. Batteries in a package by themselves are UN 3480, packing instruction 965, off a passenger aircraft, with the quantity taken from inside 965.

Keep the net quantity inside the table maximum for that aircraft, 5 kg passenger or 35 kg cargo, and inside any lower limit in Section 5. If the package is not permitted on a passenger aircraft, book a cargo aircraft and apply the Cargo Aircraft Only label.

If the finding is state of charge, read packing instruction 966 against these cells. If the finding is a mark, change the carton, then make the paper match. If the finding is US 3 or an operator condition, open IATA DGR 2.8 and use the text printed there.

Walk the packages against the corrected paper the way IATA DGR 9.1.3 will. Sign again under 49 CFR 172.204 and IATA DGR 8.1.6.12. You keep the pen. The same line, tendered twice, is the same offer. The recovery path, including sending the rejected declaration and the carrier note, is at https://altor.consulting/rejected.html.

Altor pre-checks completed Dangerous Goods Declarations line by line against the current regulations and returns a written report, with every finding cited, within one business day. You keep the pen. altor.consulting

Catch the rejection before the carrier does

Send your completed declaration before you tender it. A line by line advisory report comes back within 24 hours, every finding cited. $95 flat, one click, and you keep the pen.

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