Play It Safe

August 31, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (3)

In time for the August 14 anniversary of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), the CPSC issued their final interpretative rule on inaccessible component parts.  This is important because inaccessible component parts do not have to comply with the lead content limits of CPSIA, and do not need to be tested and certified as to lead content. Accessible component parts and materials, however, do require testing and certification, and compliance, to the lead content limits, unless otherwise specifically excluded.

The Act itself provides for an exception for inaccessible component parts, defined as “any component part of a children&rs...Read More

July 27, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

On August 14, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act will reach the one-year anniversary of its enactment.  There are several provisions that become effective on that date, and the CPSC has issued several updates this month in preparation.

The Lead Content Limit decreases from 600 to 300 ppm as of August 14.  Children’s product exceeding the 300 ppm limit cannot be sold after this date.  We have been testing most products to this new limit since the beginning of the year in anticipation of the change.   ...Read More

July 6, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I’m writing this blog from Zhuhai, China where tomorrow I will be participating in the first of 3 product safety seminars sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.  CCPIT, also known as the China Chamber of International Commerce, was established in 1952 and is considered the most important and largest institution for the promotion of foreign trade in China.  Together with representatives of the law firm of Holland & Knight and their China Risk Avoidance Team, we will be reviewing the ...Read More

June 17, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

While the US toy industry has been focusing on the numerous regulatory changes brought about by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), Europe has been busy with major changes to their own Toy Safety Directive (88/378/EEC), which had not been significantly updated for 20 years.

Unfortunately, the European changes do not correlate with the US CPSIA changes.  For companies that distribute toys globally, this is a challenge.  Many of the EU changes deal with chemical requirements which go far beyond US regulations....Read More

May 31, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (3)

BPA, or Bisphenol-A, has been in the news lately as another potentially hazardous chemical.  While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to state that BPA is safe – as do government bodies in Europe, Canada, and Japan - consumer groups and legislators are working vigorously to ban the chemical, at least in certain applications. 

BPA is a chemical used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resin.  Polycarbonate is used in a wide ...Read More