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Regulatory Helpdesk: February 5, 2019

Welcome back to the Regulatory Helpdesk where we answer your dangerous goods & hazmat questions. We’re here to help you become independent with – and understand the whys and hows of – the regulations.

Q. Customer called and asked if their company name was required to be printed on the new lithium battery mark when shipping by ground within the U.S.
A. No, that is not a requirement. Per 173.185 (c) (3) (i), it states the following must be printed on the label: The “*” must be replaced by the appropriate UN number(s) and the “**” must be replaced by a telephone number for additional information.
Q. Regarding Canadian address/phone number, do you know how a wholesaler company can market in Canada without a Canadian address0 For obvious reasons, there will be multiple suppliers that could be selling our products.
A. This situation could be covered by the Hazardous Products Regulation (HPR) s. 5.9(2) or 5.15(1).

The requirement for having a label with the (Canadian) initial supplier identifier is invoked by the Act (HPA) s. 14b).

HPR s. 5.9(2) allows an employer to import with only the foreign supplier identifier on an otherwise compliant label if it’s for use in their own workplace.

HPR s. 5.15(1) exempts importers from having a compliant label as long as they can prove (5.15(2)) that they will ensure it’s labeled legally before it’s used or sold.

The Canadian importer is the one who will have the liability. Some distributors will over-sticker, or put it beside the original name/address/telephone number with their own. The foreign supplier might have to be prepared to factor this into cost-of-business as an alternative to establishing a Canadian address or labeling for each Canadian supplier.

Q. I have a 5-gallon pail of UN3265 in Packing Group II. It weighs less than 66 pounds. Can I ship it limited quantity?
A. Sadly, no you cannot. The HMT column 8A directs you to 173.154. While limited quantities are allowed for this particular material it is paragraph b that prevents you from using this exception. Paragraph b says packagings must be combination in nature. Also, for a packing group II material, the inner containers cannot be more than 1.0 L or 0.3 gallons net capacity.
Q. We purchase your orange system workplace labels. If the SDS doesn’t indicate any specific target organ toxicity effects, do we have to indicate anything there?
A. That is a decision that can be made at your company. If asked to print an orange system label, ICC tends to indicate any organs there that could be impacted by any part of a classification such as skin and eyes. It is then up to the customer to give final approval as to whether or not they want that information there.
Q. I have a battery that needs to be shipped starting in 2019. To make the battery, there are 8 AA size lithium metal cells all shrink wrapped together with a power connection included as part of the wrapping. Each cell has 0.98 grams of lithium. We plan to put 10 of these batteries in a box. Can I ship this as excepted under Section II of IATA and for 49CFR 173.185(c)?
A. Unfortunately, even though each cell is under the limit of 1 gram that is a qualifier to be a Section II, your battery as a whole has a gram content of 7.84 grams. That is above the limit of 2 grams for a battery to qualify as Section II for IATA. What you have now is a Section 1A battery meaning it must have UN Specification packaging and use the new class 9 hazard class label specifically designated for batteries. Now, under 49CFR, there is a bit of a loophole. In 173.185(c)(1)(iv) it says, “For transportation by highway or rail only, the lithium content of the cell and battery may be increased to 5 g for a lithium metal cell or 25 g for a lithium metal battery and 60 Wh for a lithium ion cell or 300 Wh for a lithium ion battery provided the outer package is marked: “LITHIUM BATTERIES—FORBIDDEN FOR TRANSPORT ABOARD AIRCRAFT AND VESSEL.”. As long as you ship this battery by US ground only, then you are under the limit of 25 grams and can be treated as excepted. For those packages, you will need the new handling mark as well as the statement shown.
Q. What are the requirements for exposure limits on a Safety Data Sheet in the EU?
A. The requirement for exposure limits in Section 8 on a European SDS only states that exposure limits must be provided for the Member Country where the product is placed on the market in the EU, as well as overall EU limits if there are any. So if you were only selling into France, you would only require France exposure limits, and overall EU limits (if any). If you were selling into France, the UK (until Brexit is over), and Spain, then you would need only France, UK, Spain, and overall EU limits (if any).
Karrie Ishmael, CDGP

Karrie Ishmael has been with ICC since 1988. She has contributed to ICC's growth in various capacities, including customer service, sales, and marketing. In her current role as ICC's Senior Regulatory Expert and SDS author, Karrie conducts hazardous materials training classes in 49 CFR, IATA, IMDG, TDG along with OSHA and WHMIS hazard communication courses. When not training, she writes safety data sheets for customers to comply with North American and European requirements. She actively participates in many associations, including DGAC, COSTHA and is the former chair of SCHC’s OSHA Alliance Committee.

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