In an attempt to further reduce safety issues with children’s products, the Consumer Safety Product Commission (CSPC) is implementing new regulations for domestic manufacturers and importers on February 8, 2013.
The new regulations stipulate that the manufacturers of children’s products comply with on-going third-party product testing to ensure safety, and that there are comprehensive records to accompany the tests. This is the newest update to the testing mandated with the passage of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).
Manufacturers are currently required to perform initial testing on children’s products in certain categories, including: products made with lead paint, products with small parts, cribs, pacifiers, and metal jewelry for children. The CSPC defines children’s products as those “designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger.”
The amended testing rules mandate that manufacturers must conduct testing with a CSPC-approved, third-party laboratory at least once annually. This time period can be extended to two or three years if the manufacturer develops internal testing protocol and programs. Additional testing must also occur whenever there are any alterations to materials in the product, such as: design change, manufacture process change, component part change, or component supplier change.
The new testing rules also specify that manufacturers outline their testing plan for the CSPC’s reference and maintain records of each test conducted for five years. The records should include details regarding how often the safety tests will occur, what specific tests are being conducted, how many samples were tested, and how the specific samples were selected.
Manufacturers are required to put safeguards preventing undue influence against involved third-party labs by the time the new safety procedures are implemented in February. The manufacturers must provide the labs with written notice of the new testing procedures and any needed training. The labs must also be aware that they can inform the CSPC of any issues without notifying the manufacturer.
If a product fails safety testing, the manufacturer must investigate and rectify the issue and re-submit samples for testing.
