SUMMARY: New CPSC Third Party Testing Requirements for Certain Children's Products

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January 8, 2009

Based on the timeline set forth in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has begun to publish its requirements for accreditation of third party laboratories testing children’s products for conformity with product safety rules.[1] Manufacturers, importers, and private labelers of subject merchandise should note that these requirements are more burdensome than the general conformity certificate requirement, some of which became effective November 12, 2008.

The third party testing requirements take effect 90 days after the CPSC publishes its criteria for accreditation of third party assessment bodies in the Federal Register. At that time, each manufacturer, importer, or private labeler of a subject item must have their products tested by an accredited laboratory and must issue a certificate of compliance with the applicable regulations based on that testing. Shipments of subject products without certificates of conformity may be refused entry or destroyed by CPSC or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials after their respective effective dates.

It is important to note that many children’s products will require multiple tests and certifications.    For example, a baby crib manufactured after December 22, 2008 will require only a certification for compliance with the lead paint ban.  However, cribs manufactured after January 21, 2009 with paint coatings will require certifications for compliance with the lead paint ban and CPSC’s regulations on cribs. While multiple certifications may be combined on the same certificate, each applicable product safety rule must be specified.

The timetable for implementation of third party test requirements is as follows:

Rule	Federal Register Date		Effective Date
Lead Paint[2]	September 22, 2008		December 22, 2008
Full-Size Baby Crib; Non Full-Size Cribs; Pacifiers[3]	October 22, 2008		January 21, 2009
Small Parts	November 21, 2008		February 22, 2009
Children’s Jewelry		December 22, 2008		March 22, 2009
Baby Bouncers, Walkers, and Jumpers		March 22, 2009		June 20, 2009
All Other Children’s Product Safety Rules		June 14, 2009		September 17, 2009

To date, the CPSC has published its criteria for laboratories assessing conformity with the lead paint ban, the safety regulations governing baby cribs and pacifiers, small parts regulations, and limits on lead content in jewelry. So far, all rules set accreditation to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005-General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories- as the baseline requirement. The accreditation must be by a body that is a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation-Mutual Recognition Arrangement and the scope of the accreditation must include testing for compliance with the lead paint ban or other applicable rules, bans, standards, etc.

A laboratory owned or controlled by a manufacturer or private labeler of products to be tested is subject to additional requirements intended to assure that the CPSC is notified of any attempt by the manufacturer, private labeler, or any other interested party to hide or exert undue influence over test results.

A governmental laboratory may be accredited subject to additional requirements concerning its relationship with the host government and freedom of manufacturer in the host country to use accredited nongovernmental laboratories for certification without suffering disadvantage.

The CPSC is likely to use these same baseline requirements in its future rule making, but is accepting comments on its criteria through January 21, 2009, for laboratories assessing conformity with the new limits on lead content in children’s jewelry.

CPSC has recognized that it may be difficult for manufacturers and importers to be aware of all of the standards, bans, rules, etc., for which a product needs to be tested and certified. To help manufacturers and imports determine what products need conformity certificates and what to test for, the CPSC has posted various resources on its website.

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