If you ship lithium batteries, there’s a labeling change headed your way starting January 1, 2027.

A new DOT regulation, 49 CFR 173.185(c)(3), narrows what’s allowed to appear inside the red hatched border on lithium battery handling labels. Going forward, the only information allowed in that space is the UN number.

Non-Compliant:      Compliant:

That means that phone numbers and the name of an emergency response information provider (ERIP) will no longer be considered compliant.

It’s a small change on paper, but it affects a label a lot of shippers rely on daily.

Why this lithium battery label change is happening

The red hatched area on a lithium battery label exists to communicate urgent handling information at a glance. As a result, regulators have decided to keep that space limited to the UN number alone. Anything else, even something as useful as an emergency contact number, now has to live outside that boundary.

What to do if your labels include a phone number or ERIP name

If your current labels print a company name and phone number or an emergency response provider’s information inside the red hatching, those labels will no longer be compliant once the rule takes effect.

While you can continue ordering the previously compliant labels (at a discount), we recommend buying the new, compliant labels for any shipping you plan to do starting in 2027. In short, now is not the time to stockpile lithium battery labels.

 Your lithium battery label options moving forward

Don’t worry: if you still need emergency contact information or additional information on your labels, you can still do that. It simply will be done slightly differently than in the past.

• Tabbed labels with phone numbers: If you do want a phone number to stay on the label, it just moves to a tab that sits outside the hatched area rather than inside it. We now offer two tabbed formats for this: a side-tabbed 100mm x 70mm label and a bottom-tabbed 100mm x 100mm label, both built so the contact information is printed on the extended tab rather than the hatched zone.

• Standard stock lithium battery labels: If you don’t rely on having a phone number printed on the label itself, our standard stock lithium battery labels remain unchanged and are available in the same sizes as before, with no name or number included.

• Blank tabbed labels: If you’d rather control all the information yourself, blank tab labels are available too, giving you the space to print or write in whatever details you need without us pre-populating anything.

• CHEMTREC labels: We will continue to support our CHEMTREC customers by selling CHEMTREC lithium battery labels that are compliant with the new regulations.

What lithium battery label buying steps to take next:

Nothing is changing overnight, but it’s worth carefully considering your next lithium battery label purchases.

Labelmaster will stop selling the formerly compliant lithium battery labels on December 1, 2026. And, we’ll be selling them at a discount until then.

So, if you plan to do a lot of lithium battery label shipping in 2026, this is an opportunity to save money on your labels.

If you order lithium battery labels regularly, now’s a good time to check which version you’re using, the speed at which you go through labels, and potentially switch over the new 2027 compliant lithium battery label.

And, finally, the new lithium battery label requirements go into effect on January, 1, 2027.

If you have any other questions on which labels you need, please reach out to our customer success team at orders@labelmaster.com