CPSC delays testing regs to 2011
By Staff -- Playthings, 12/18/2009 8:50:00 AM
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said today that it will extend a stay of enforcement on testing and certification on toys and other children’s products as it works towards accrediting more testing labs. It also approved a new policy on component part testing.
Categories of children’s products to remain covered by the stay of enforcement on testing and certification include children’s toys and child care articles with banned phthalates, children’s toys subject to ASTM’s F-963 toy safety standard, caps and toy guns, clacker balls, baby walkers, bath seats, other durable infant products, electrically operated toys, youth all-terrain vehicles, youth mattresses, children’s bicycles, carpets and rugs, vinyl plastic film and children’s sleepwear.
The stay of enforcement, which was voted on unanimously by CPSC’s commissioners, will remain in effect for these children’s products while CPSC continues to work toward recognizing testing labs. Independent third party testing and certification will only be required for these categories of children’s products 90 days after CPSC publishes the laboratory accreditation requirements for any individual category in the Federal register.
While enforcement of specific CPSC testing requirements has been stayed, the products must still comply with all applicable rules and bans, the CPSC said.
Additionally, the Commission is extending the stay on certification and third party testing for children’s products subject to lead content limits until Feb. 10, 2011. Under this decision, products must still meet the 300 ppm lead limit now, but certification and third party testing to show compliance will be required for all children’s products manufactured after Feb. 10, 2011.
The stay will end on Feb. 10, 2010 for four children’s products: bicycle helmets, bunk beds, infant rattles and dive sticks. These children’s products, manufactured after Feb. 10, 2010, will be required to have certification based on independent third party testing. The testing must be conducted by a laboratory recognized by CPSC.
Unchanged is the current independent third party testing and certification required for all children’s products subject to the following consumer product safety rules:
• The ban on lead in paint and other surface coatings
• The standards for full-size and non full-size cribs and pacifiers
• The ban on small parts
• The limits on lead content of metal components of children’s jewelry
Component Testing
The Commission has also voted unanimously to adopt an interim enforcement policy allowing component part testing. Under this policy, domestic manufacturers and importers now have a choice in certifying their products. As before, they can send samples of the entire children’s product out for independent third party testing, and now they can certify their products as meeting lead paint and lead content limits in the following ways:
• Lead in paint: Have test reports from recognized independent third party testing labs showing that each paint on the product complies with the 90 ppm lead paint limit; or have certificates from paint suppliers declaring that all their paint on the product complies with the 90 ppm lead limit based on testing by recognized independent third party testing laboratories.
• Lead content: Have test reports from recognized independent third-party testing labs showing that each of the accessible component parts on the product complies with the 300 ppm lead limit; Have certificates from part suppliers declaring that all accessible component parts on the product comply with the 300 ppm lead limit based on testing by recognized independent third party testing laboratories.
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