Amazon ‘repeatedly breached regulations when they transported potentially hazardous batteries by air’
The online giant is facing trial at Southwark Crown Court for allegedly causing the batteries and other flammable items to be carried on aircraft
ONLINE shopping giant Amazon repeatedly breached regulations when they transported potentially hazardous batteries by air, a court heard.
The retailer is facing trial for allegedly causing lithium-ion batteries, found in mobile phones and laptops, to be carried on aircraft.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) claim Amazon also broke regulations regarding the transportation of flammable aerosols and car screen wash.
The batteries were loose replacements for various electronic devices set to be flown by the retail giant to destinations including Estonia, Romania and other locations before being intercepted by scanners.
Packages had not marking despite the dangerous goods inside, jurors were told.
The batteries were loose as replacements for various electronic devices and were set to be flown to destinations including Estonia and Romania, before being intercepted by scanners.
Prosecutor Martin Goudie told the court: "We say that over a period from November 2013 to May/June 2015 Amazon breached the regulations in respect of these 11 counts.
"Lithium-ion batteries are prohibited from being carried as post on an aircraft.
"In addition the packages were not properly labelled as to alert the carrier to their content.
"This is not a situation where somebody has ordered a teddy bear and somebody had put a Lithium battery in the box.
"Where it has fallen down is on the safety side."
Most of the packages involved in the allegations were to be sent via Royal Mail with one of the aerosols set to be couriered by UPS.
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Mr Goudie said the batteries "should not have been there" and that they "weren't properly labelled in any event".
The batteries can be sent when inside items but become dangerous when loose, the court heard.
The 11 sample charges represent "merely a few examples of further breaches" of the rules by Amazon.
"This is not a one shop outfit who has got difficulty trying to stay on top of things," Mr Goudie added.
"This is a big company who should be up to speed and have the resources."
The Royal Mail discovered several of the illegal packages and highlighted the danger but Amazon failed to properly respond, it is claimed.
The prosecutor claimed it was a "double failure" in that both "system and individual" errors were made.
"Anybody properly trained, properly thinking through this would have seen the sign on the side of it," Mr Goudie added.
In the last ten weeks or so of 2013 Amazon committed 334 breaches which equates to roughly five per day, the prosecutor claimed.
The company are expected to claim they had taken "reasonable care" and deny eleven charges of carrying dangerous goods on an aircraft.
The trial, expected to last around three weeks, continues.
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