UL2054/1642 + IEC62133 + UN38.3 Certification + TIC Audit

With the continuous surge in global demand for lithium batteries, battery cells and battery packs, as the core components of various electronic devices, have emerged as high-potential categories on the Amazon platform. Meanwhile, safety hazards associated with battery products have driven the platform to continuously tighten compliance control. Since 2026, Amazon has introduced mandatory compliance requirements for battery cell and battery pack products, explicitly designating ul2054/ul1642 certification, IEC62133 certification, UN38.3 transportation certification, and TIC direct verification audit as the core thresholds for product listing. Any missing or non-compliant item will result in product delisting, link removal, or even account suspension. For sellers engaged in the battery category, accurately grasping the core logic and practical key points of various requirements has become the key to ensuring business continuity.

Compliance Requirements

Amazon’s compliance requirements for battery cell/battery pack products establish a full-cycle control system consisting of product safety certification + transportation safety certification + third-party audit verification. Among them, UL2054/UL1642 and IEC62133 focus on the usage safety of the products themselves, UN38.3 ensures transportation safety, and TIC audit verifies the authenticity and consistency between certifications and products. These four requirements are interlocking and collectively form the essential prerequisites for product listing.

It should be particularly noted that the scope of these requirements is extensive, covering lithium-ion cells, lithium polymer cells, various consumer electronic battery packs (e.g., mobile phone replacement batteries, laptop battery packs), industrial-grade battery packs, etc. Only some batteries for specific applications (e.g., automotive emergency start power supplies) have independent compliance policies.

Compliance Standards

The three certifications of UL2054/UL1642, IEC62133, and UN38.3 are the basic compliance thresholds for Amazon’s battery cell/battery pack products. Different certifications correspond to different safety dimensions and have clear scopes of application and testing requirements. Sellers must make precise matches to avoid compliance omissions.

1. UL Series Certifications

UL certification is a mandatory requirement for battery cell/battery pack products on Amazon US. It is mainly divided into two core standards: UL1642 (for battery cells only) and UL2054 (for battery packs only). The two are in a prerequisite and subsequent relationship and cannot be substituted for each other.

UL1642 applies to lithium-ion/lithium polymer cells, focusing on the electrical safety and thermal stability of the cells themselves. The test items cover key aspects such as overcharge protection, short-circuit protection, thermal abuse testing, crush testing, and drop testing.

The 2026 new regulations have added more stringent thermal abuse testing requirements, further raising the safety threshold for battery cells. Cells that fail this certification cannot be used to assemble compliant battery packs. It should be noted that Amazon explicitly requires that laboratories issuing UL1642 reports must have UL WTDP qualification and CNAS accreditation; reports issued by small institutions will be directly rejected.

UL2054 applies to finished battery packs. On the basis of UL1642 cell certification, it further verifies the overall safety performance of battery packs, including the fault detection capability of the Battery Management System (BMS), the compression resistance of the battery pack casing, and the consistency of multi-cell combinations.

For battery packs with charging functions, additional verification of the safety and stability of the charging circuit is required. It is worth mentioning that if sellers sell battery packs used in end products such as power banks, they can also choose the combined certification scheme of "UL2054 + IEC62368-1" to meet the alternative compliance requirements of the platform.

2. IEC62133 Certification

IEC62133 is a lithium battery safety standard formulated by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), divided into IEC62133-1 (general requirements) and IEC62133-2 (specific requirements for portable lithium batteries). It is applicable to most Amazon sites worldwide (including Europe, Japan, etc.), serving as the core compliance requirement outside the US market, and can also be used as a supplementary combination option for UL certification in the US market.

The core test items of this standard cover two major dimensions: electrochemical stability and physical durability, including more than 150 charge-discharge cycle tests (at 2C rate), 3mm steel nail forced internal short-circuit testing, high and low temperature cycle testing (-40℃ ~ 75℃), 13kN crush testing, etc. It specifically requires that the BMS communication protocol of the battery pack must comply with the standard fault detection thresholds to ensure that protection mechanisms can be triggered in a timely manner under abnormal scenarios such as overcharge and over-discharge.

For sellers on European sites, IEC62133 certification is also a prerequisite for CE certification, which needs to be implemented in conjunction with requirements such as EPR registration and the designation of a European Union Responsible Person.

3. un38.3 certification

UN38.3 is a lithium battery transportation safety standard formulated in the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. It is a mandatory certification for all battery cell/battery pack products sold cross-border on Amazon. Regardless of whether the target site is the US, Europe, or Japan, sellers are required to provide a compliant un38.3 test report and relevant transportation documents.

The core of this certification is to simulate the extreme environments that lithium batteries may encounter during cross-border transportation and verify their safety through eight key tests, including altitude simulation (11.6kPa low-pressure environment), thermal testing (-40℃ ~ 55℃ cycle), vibration testing, shock testing, external short-circuit testing, impact/crush testing, overcharge testing, and forced discharge testing.

The 2026 new maritime transportation regulations have further raised the requirements: the drop test height has been increased from 1.2 meters to 1.8 meters, and compliance with the IMDG Code Edition 42-24 is required.

In addition, according to Amazon’s new air transportation regulations that took effect in January 2026, for lithium-ion batteries with a watt-hour rating > 2.7Wh and packaged separately from equipment, the state of charge before air transportation must be ≤ 30%. Sellers must accurately fill in relevant information in the background; otherwise, it will affect the timeliness of logistics and distribution.

TIC Audit Process

As a core reform in Amazon’s compliance control, the TIC (Third-Party Testing, Inspection, and Certification) direct verification mechanism has been fully applied to battery cell/battery pack products. Its core purpose is to eliminate false certification reports and ensure the consistency between products and certification information. Unlike the previous practice where sellers uploaded reports independently, the new regulations require that all compliance verifications must be completed through Amazon-accredited TIC institutions, and audit results are directly encrypted and synchronized to the platform—sellers have no manual upload permission.

Four Steps to Complete Compliance

1. Initiate Platform Application

Sellers log in to Amazon Seller Central, enter "Performance - Account Health - Policy Compliance", find the battery cell/battery pack ASIN pending verification, click "Verify Your Product" and create a Test Request Form (TRF) to obtain an exclusive TRF ID.

2. Select and Connect with a TIC Institution

Sellers need to choose a service provider from Amazon’s official list of accredited institutions (e.g., JJR, etc.). For batch processing of multiple ASINs, sellers can negotiate optimized service plans with the institution.

3. Submit Materials and Sample Audit

Sellers are required to send samples consistent with mass-produced models (usually 3-5 units), and submit three certification reports (UL2054/1642, IEC62133, UN38.3), as well as product specifications, battery cell model lists, and other materials. The TIC institution will focus on verifying the authenticity of reports, the completeness of test items, and the consistency between products and reports.

4. Result Synchronization and Status Update

After passing the audit, the TIC institution directly uploads the results to the Amazon system, and the product status is automatically restored to normal. If the audit is not passed, the institution will feedback specific problem points (e.g., inconsistent parameters between samples and reports, missing test items, etc.), and sellers need to complete rectifications before resubmitting for audit.

Notes

①　Time Limit Requirements: From the date of receiving the TIC audit notice, sellers must initiate the verification application within 21 days, and the platform will grant a 30-day completion period. Failure to complete within the time limit will result in product delisting risks.

②　Material Requirements: All certification reports must be valid reports issued by ISO 17025-accredited laboratories within the past 12 months; reports exceeding the validity period require re-testing. Product labels must clearly indicate "Lithium-Ion Battery", capacity parameters, manufacturer information, and compliance marks. Label images must be clearly displayed on the product detail page; otherwise, it will affect the audit result.

Regional Compliance Supplements: Avoid Missing Site-Specific Requirements

In addition to the above general requirements, different Amazon sites have additional compliance requirements for battery cell/battery pack products, and sellers need to implement them in a targeted manner:

①　US Site: Sellers are required to additionally complete wercs registration. For accessory battery packs, product actual photos must show the connection status between the battery and the whole device. The sale of standalone cylindrical lithium-ion cells such as 14500, 18650, and 21700 is prohibited; combined products containing such cells must also strictly comply with quantity limits.

②　European Sites: Sellers must comply with the requirements of the EU Battery Regulation, complete battery EPR registration on 8 sites including Belgium, France, and Germany, and obtain exclusive registration numbers for the corresponding countries (e.g., 8-digit Batt-Reg.-Nr in Germany, "IT + 14-digit number" format in Italy). Non-EU enterprises must appoint a local Authorized Representative (AR) to handle the registration. At the same time, sellers must ensure that products pass CE certification, and compliance documents must be in the language of the target market.

③　Japan Site: The standalone sale of cells such as 18650 and 21700 is prohibited; bundled products containing such cells can only include the quantity necessary for the operation of the device. Product manuals must comply with local Japanese regulatory requirements, and meti filing must be completed to ensure consistency between certification information and filing information.

Compliance Pitfall Avoidance Guide

Based on industry practical experience, the following key points for avoiding pitfalls are summarized:

1. Ensure Product Consistency

The model, specifications, battery cell model, BMS design, etc., of the test samples must be completely consistent with the products sold on the platform. Any modification requires re-testing and re-audit to avoid audit failure due to "product inconsistency with certification".

2. Prioritize Compliant Supply Chains

When purchasing battery cells, confirm that suppliers have UL1642 certification to avoid subsequent battery pack certification failure caused by non-compliant cells, thereby reducing compliance costs from the source.

3. Retain Complete Compliance Documents

Properly store all compliance documents such as certification reports, TIC audit records, and EPR registration numbers. Amazon may conduct random inspections at any time; missing documents will face the risk of secondary delisting.

4. Timely Monitor Policy Updates

For example, Amazon’s recently added requirements for filling in the state of charge of batteries for air transportation, and the EPR registration time limit requirements for European sites, etc., need to be responded to and implemented in a timely manner to avoid compliance risks caused by policy omissions.

In conclusion, Amazon’s compliance control over battery cell/battery pack products has entered a stage of "full-cycle, strict audit". UL2054/1642, IEC62133, UN38.3 certifications and TIC audit are not additional burdens, but necessary passports for sellers to enter the global market. For sellers who want to long-term engage in this category, it is necessary to abandon the fluke mentality, integrate the compliance concept into the entire process of supply chain selection, product R&D, and platform operation, and actively adapt to platform requirements, so as to achieve steady development in the fierce market competition.