Lithium battery mark (battery mark)
The package holds small lithium (or, since 2025, sodium ion) cells or batteries shipped under the small-battery exemption, special provision 188. The UN number says which kind: UN 3090 lithium metal, UN 3480 lithium ion, UN 3551 sodium ion; UN 3091, UN 3481 and UN 3552 when they are packed with or inside equipment.
Who puts it on the box
The sender (the consignor), for example an online shop sending a laptop, power bank or spare phone battery. A package with only button cells in equipment, or up to four cells or two batteries fitted in equipment when there are no more than two packages in the consignment, does not need it.
How to read it
Read the UN number to see what is inside. Special provision 188 allows lithium ion cells up to 20 Wh and batteries up to 100 Wh, and lithium metal cells up to 1 g and batteries up to 2 g of lithium; bigger batteries are fully regulated and carry the class 9 lithium battery label instead of, or as well as, this mark. ADR 2025 renamed it the “battery mark” when sodium ion batteries were added.
What it does not promise
It does not promise the batteries were tested, undamaged or safe: damaged or defective lithium batteries have their own, stricter rules. It does not promise any carrier or postal service accepts the parcel either — many limit or refuse loose batteries, and air rules are stricter than road rules.
A mark on a parcel is the sender’s statement about what is inside and how it should be handled. It is not a certificate that the parcel is packed safely, that anyone handled it as marked, or that your carrier accepts it: for what you may send, read the carrier’s own terms.
- What it looks like
- A rectangle with a red hatched border; inside, a group of batteries with one damaged and giving off a flame, above a UN number such as “UN 3481”. At least 100 × 100 mm, or 100 × 70 mm on small packages.
- Regulation
- ADR 2025, section 5.2.1.9 (battery mark) and special provision 188; UN Model Regulations 5.2.1.9
- Kind of mark
- A dangerous-goods mark or label from the UN Model Regulations, applied in Europe by ADR (road) and its sister agreements for rail and waterways, and on the same pattern by the US 49 CFR. It says the package holds dangerous goods.
- Also called
- Battery mark; Lithium battery handling mark; UN 3481 mark; UN 3091 mark
Related
Other marks with the same shape
Sources
Each document was fetched and read on the date shown. Written in our own words; quotations are the documents’ wording.
- Full quotation of the regulation — Tadiran Batteries GmbH, technical notice LTN-065-70-H: ADR 2025 — Transport regulations for road and rail transport, overview (quotes ADR 2025 special provision 188 and 5.2.1.9 in full) — Quotes ADR 2025 5.2.1.9 “Battery mark”: rectangle or square with hatched edging, at least 100 × 100 mm (reducible to 100 × 70 mm), hatching at least 5 mm and red, symbol black on white, UN 3090/3480/3551 or 3091/3481/3552; and special provision 188 with its Wh and lithium-content limits and the button-cell and four-cells/two-batteries exceptions. Checked 2026-09-27.
- Regulator guidance — Health and Safety Executive (UK regulator for the carriage of dangerous goods): Carriage of dangerous goods manual — Consignment procedures: marking and labelling of packages (ADR 5.2) — Package labels are the “hazard diamonds” of ADR 5.2.2 with the class number; specimen labels are in ADR 5.2.2.2.2 and sizes in 5.2.2.2.1.1; the consignor is responsible for marking and labelling. Checked 2026-09-27.