Implementation Guidelines for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Enhancement Act
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission continues to promote the implementation of various provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Enhancement Act of 2008. Among them, new regulations on the lead content and phthalate content of certain types of children's products were implemented on February 10. Take effect. In view of the great concern that the implementation of the new regulations has caused in the U.S. business community, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has recently provided guidance on some important implementation and enforcement issues of the relevant regulations, as summarized below.
Draft guidance on the scope of the phthalate ban
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has released a draft guidance to assist manufacturers, importers, retailers and consumers in determining which children's toys and child care products are subject to new regulations on phthalate content limits. The Consumer Product Safety Commission pointed out that due to limited resources, the Commission plans to focus its enforcement efforts on products most likely to expose children to phthalates, namely bath toys and other small products that are targeted at young children and can be placed in the mouth. Plastic toys.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is also consulting the industry on its approach to determining which products are subject to phthalate content regulations. The consultation period will end on March 25. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's definition, children's toys are "consumer products designed by the manufacturer for use by children 12 years of age or younger during play." The Commission will determine whether a product meets the definition of "children's toys" based on the following factors.
- Whether the intended use of the product is playful
- Whether the packaging, display, promotion or advertising of the product indicates that it is suitable for use by persons of the specified age
- Do consumers generally know that the product is intended for use by children of a specified age?
- The Age Determination Guidelines issued by the Staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in September 2002 and subsequent such guidelines
The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to determine the scope of the phthalate ban with reference to the definition of "toy" in ASTM International Standard F963-07 (Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety), which also became mandatory on February 10 Sexual consumer product safety regulations.
Under the standard, the CPSC proposes to exclude the following products from the scope of the phthalates ban: bicycles and tricycles; slingshots and darts; playground equipment; non-powder spray guns; paper kites; art supplies, not Model sets and hobby products with mainly play value; non-toy sporting goods, camping supplies, sporting goods, musical instruments and furniture; and motorized model airplanes, rockets, ships and land vehicles, etc. On the other hand, general-purpose balls and small balls distributed as promotional materials will be included in the ban.
Regular books (including books intended for children) are generally not considered toys, but the Consumer Product Safety Commission lists some novel books, such as plastic books or sound books marketed as bath toys, as subject to the phthalate ban Toys covered. Other toys that may be subject to the ban include bath toys, pool toys, wading pools for toddlers, dolls, action figures, costumes, masks and balloons.
The phthalate ban also covers child care products, which are "consumer products specifically designed by the manufacturer to assist children 3 years of age or younger in sleeping or eating, or to assist children in breastfeeding or teething." The CPSC will determine whether a product is a child care product under the CPSA based on the following factors:
- Whether the product is intended to assist with sleeping, eating, breastfeeding or teething
- Whether the product is intended for use by children 3 years of age or younger
- Whether the product is a primary or secondary aid for sleeping, eating, breastfeeding or teething
- Do consumers know that the product is specifically designed to assist sleeping, eating, breastfeeding or teething?
The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to list products that children use directly in the mouth and products that come into direct contact with children as the main products subject to the phthalate ban, including teethers, pacifiers, bibs, and baby blankets. , high chairs, duckbill cups, baby bottles and cribs, etc.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's proposal, products used by parents and not in contact with children are secondary products and will not be subject to the phthalate ban, such as bottle warmers, bottle cleaning products, breast pumps, and anti-spill pads. And high chairs, floor mats, etc.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is also consulting the industry on whether a series of other products should be subject to the phthalates ban, including pajamas, crib sheets, infant sleeping position pillows, baby swings, decorative swimming goggles, sleeves, and baby toys. Scooters and wading pools, etc.
Test method for determining phthalate content
The Consumer Product Safety Commission published a document detailing the testing methods it will use to determine whether a toy or child care product contains any of the banned phthalates. The full text of the document is available at http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/phthalatesop.pdf.
Tracking labels for children’s products
One of the provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Enhancement Act requires manufacturers to permanently label children's products with clear tracking information to facilitate recycling, which took effect on August 14. The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to publish a notice in the Federal Register in the near future requesting industry input on this requirement.
The conference will focus specifically on the following issues:
- The conditions and circumstances that should be considered when deciding whether children's products can be labeled with tracking labels.
- Providing that manufacturers and private labelers must adopt standard naming methods, styles and arrangements of label information will have any impact on manufacturers' ability to determine the production location and date of their products.
- Providing that manufacturers and private labels must adopt standard naming methods, styles and arrangements of label information, and not making relevant regulations, will have any impact on consumers' ability to identify recycled products.
- How tracking data should be displayed in English or other languages, or whether the data should be displayed language-free (e.g., using alphanumeric codes and publicly accessible reference indexes).
- If the product contains tracking data displayed in an electronically readable manner, will it bring substantial benefit to consumers? If so, under which circumstances and which electronic method will be most beneficial.
- If the product is privately labeled, what method should the seller use to provide consumers with the requested manufacturer information.
- If the label has a prescribed format, how long does it take for the industry to comply with the labeling regulations?
- Are there any examples of success in other jurisdictions implementing tracking labels?
– Reference source: Hong Kong Trade Development Council 2009-02-28
