Concern about shipping lithium-ion batteries reared its head again this week with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) setting a date for trial against retailer Amazon.
Amazon has just under a year to prepare its defence against taking lithium-ion batteries—believed to be loose replacements for laptops and other electronic devices—on an aircraft.
The retailer is being prosecuted by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and will face 11 ‘Dangerous Goods’ charges in September 2016.
The company has denied the charges and the trial, to be held at Southwark Crown Court in London, is expected to last two to three weeks, said the CAA.
“The CAA is prosecuting Amazon UK Services Ltd in relation to alleged breaches of dangerous goods regulations,” the CAA said in a statement.
Stephen Spence, for Amazon, told Westminster Magistrates Court when the initial charges were brought that the company did not dispute the statement of facts but that there was a defence in taking reasonable care.
In 2010, a lithium battery was blamed for a fire that broke out on a transatlantic Air France flight, and the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 is also thought to have been carrying a large load of the batteries.
On January 1 this year the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released regulations on the transport of lithium batteries, with strict limits on quantities, labelling and packaging.