# Defective, damaged or recalled lithium or sodium ion batteries — Postal shipping restrictions by item category

For Defective, damaged or recalled lithium or sodium ion batteries, carrier is IATA (air cargo); restriction type is prohibited; scope is transport by air; conditions is Batteries identified by the manufacturer as defective for safety reasons, or damaged with potential to produce a dangerous evolution of heat, fire or short circuit, are forbidden for air transport; applies also to recalled devices (Special Provision A154), recorded from its source on 2026-08-10.

- **Item category:** Defective, damaged or recalled lithium or sodium ion batteries _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Carrier:** IATA (air cargo) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Restriction type:** prohibited _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Scope:** transport by air _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Conditions:** Batteries identified by the manufacturer as defective for safety reasons, or damaged with potential to produce a dangerous evolution of heat, fire or short circuit, are forbidden for air transport; applies also to recalled devices (Special Provision A154). _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> Lithium or sodium ion batteries, identified by the manufacturer as being defective for safety reasons, or that have been damaged, that have the potential of producing a dangerous evolution of heat, fire or short circuit are forbidden for transport by air (e.g. those being returned to the manufacturer for safety reasons).

## Source

- https://www.iata.org/contentassets/05e6d8742b0047259bf3a700bc9d42b9/lithium-battery-guidance-document.pdf

Last verified: 2026-08-10. Review by: 2027-08-10.
Part of [Postal shipping restrictions by item category](https://referencesource.org/shipping-restrictions-by-class/).