This International Standard specifies performance and safety tests, designations, markings, dimensions and other requirements for secondary lithium batteries. The objective of this standard is to provide the purchasers and users of secondary lithium batteries with a set of criteria with which they can judge the performance and safety of various secondary lithium batteries offered by various manufacturers. This standard defines a minimum required level of performance and safety, and a standardized methodology by which testing is performed and the results of this testing reported to the user. Hence, users will be able to establish the viability of commercially available batteries via the declared specification and thus be able to select the battery best suited for their intended application.