New UN Regulations for Sea and Air Transport to be Enforced

The 42nd amendment of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code, issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), came into effect on January 1, 2025, with a transition period of one year. It will be mandatorily enforced starting January 1, 2026. This new revision includes additional UN numbers related to vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries, lithium metal batteries, and sodium-ion batteries. These additions first appeared in the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Model Regulations (23rd revised edition), and were adopted in Amendment 42-24 of the IMDG Code.

(Extract from Chapter 3.2, Dangerous Goods List, of the UN RTDG 23rd revised edition)

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) also incorporated these UN numbers in the 66th revised edition of the Dangerous Goods Regulations (2025-2026). Until March 31, 2025, shippers can label their shipments according to UN 3171 — Battery-powered vehicles or battery-powered equipment. Post March 31, 2025, the newly added UN3556 from the 66th revision will be used.

Based on this information, the most common lithium-ion battery-powered vehicles, such as new energy vehicles, scooters, handling robots, electric wheelchairs, etc., will need to follow these timelines for compliance:

Overview of additions in the IATA 66th edition:

Further Information

UNECE