3 February 2009

CPSC Delays Testing and Certification Requirements for Certain Consumer Products

The following was reported on in the 3 February 2009 edition of “WorldTrade Interactive”.

Importers and domestic manufacturers of certain consumer products have been granted an additional year to comply with some of the testing and certification requirements imposed under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted Jan. 30 to postpone for one year, until Feb. 10, 2010, its enforcement of the CPSIA’s requirement that regulated products, including products intended for children 12 years old and younger, be tested and certified regarding their conformity with certain standards, including lead content and flammability. This decision will give the CPSC more time to finalize proposed regulations that could relieve certain materials and products from lead testing requirements and to issue more guidance on when testing is required and how it is to be conducted.

This decision does not delay enforcement or change the actual safety standards for particular products. The CPSC reiterates that all businesses, including handmade toy and apparel makers, crafters and home-based small businesses, must still be sure that their products conform to all applicable safety standards and similar requirements, including the lead and phthalates provisions of the CPSIA, and it states nothing specific about the commission’s previous retroactivity opinion regarding the lead content requirement. These businesses will not, however, need to test and certify the compliance of their products until Feb. 10, 2010. Similarly, the CPSC is urging state attorneys general to focus their enforcement efforts on high-risk products, particularly those subject to recalls.

The stay does not apply to:

• Four requirements for third-party testing and certification of certain children’s products subject to:
- the ban on lead in paint and other surface coatings effective for products made after Dec. 21, 2008,
- the standards for full-size and non-full size cribs and pacifiers effective for products made after Jan. 20, 2009,
- the ban on small parts effective for products made after Feb. 15, 2009, and
- the limits on lead content of metal components of children’s jewelry effective for products made after March 23, 2009).

• Certification requirements applicable to all-terrain vehicles manufactured after April 13, 2009.

• Pre-CPSIA testing and certification requirements, including for automatic residential garage door openers, bike helmets, candles with metal core wicks, lawnmowers, lighters, mattresses, and swimming pool slides.

• Certain pool drain cover requirements.