Background

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has concluded that its regulations for third-party testing and certification to demonstrate compliance with safety standards for children’s products should be maintained without change.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 established requirements for the testing and certification of products subject to consumer product safety rules under the Consumer Product Safety Act or similar rules, bans, standards, or regulations under any other act enforced by the CPSC. The importer or the domestic manufacturer of the product must issue a certificate that the product complies with applicable safety standards. The certification of children’s products must be based on testing conducted by an accredited third-party conformity assessment body.

In response to this law the CPSC issued two regulations related to testing: 16 CFR part 1107, which implements the above requirements and specifies the records that must be kept to document testing and test results, and 16 CFR part 1109, which specifies how manufacturers can use third-party testing of component parts of products to certify the compliance of a finished product.

The CPSC states that the intent of the component part regulation was, in part, to provide flexibility to importers and manufacturers and to reduce the costs and other burdens of testing finished products. The regulation has specific requirements that apply to component part testing for lead, paint, and phthalates requirements. It also sets forth requirements for importers and other suppliers for relying on third-party testing and certificates provided by their own suppliers. Finally, this part specifies recordkeeping requirements for the testing of the component parts and requirements to provide traceability of how the component parts were used in finished products.

The CPSC is statutorily required to review its regulations to determine whether they should be maintained without change, rescinded, or modified to minimize any significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Among other things this review must consider the complexity of the rules; the extent to which they overlap, duplicate, or conflict with other rules; and the nature of any public complaints.

After conducting such a review of the third-party testing and certification regulations, the CPSC has determined that they should be maintained without change.

For more information on product safety issues, please contact Beth Ring at (212) 549-0133 or Ned Steiner at (202) 730-4970.

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