The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has voted to extend the stay of enforcement on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The stay will be until February 10th, 2011 and is on the certification and independent third-party testing requirements for lead and other heavy metals permitted in children’s products.
This stay does not apply to the federal regulation and limits on lead, however, General Certificates of Conformity (GCC) are not required on children’s products other than painted surfaces and children’s jewelry.
According to Nancy Nord, CPSC Commissioner
The stay was needed because the deadlines set out in the CPSIA were wildly unrealistic and their enforcement would have resulted in even more chaos in the marketplace than we have already seen over the past year without increasing safety. Since the stay of enforcement did not negate the need to comply with the underlying requirements of the law, it provided relief to regulated industry without impacting consumer safety…
The stay was needed because the deadlines set out in the CPSIA were wildly unrealistic and their enforcement would have resulted in even more chaos in the marketplace than we have already seen over the past year without increasing safety. Since the stay of enforcement did not negate the need to comply with the underlying requirements of the law, it provided relief to regulated industry without impacting consumer safety.
The “Stay of enforcement” has not be put online by the CPSC, but according to Jennifer C. Kerr of the Associated Press in addition to the stay
In an effort to ease the burden on businesses, the commission also voted to allow manufacturers and importers to rely on testing from suppliers of buttons, paint, zippers and other parts that might be used in a toy, clothing or other product for a child.
Previously, the entire finished item would have to be tested. Now, under the CPSC’s interim policy, toy-makers and others can take testing certificates from the parts’ suppliers — cutting down on some of the costs associated with the testing for lead.
What does all of this mean?
Essentially, businesses selling children’s products need to ensure that their products to not contain lead and other metals passed certain limit standards set with the CPSIA. However, businesses do not need to have their products certified and tested by third-party laboratories until February 10th, 2011. Certification in the form of a GCC has also been stayed except for painted products and children’s jewelry.
What is your reaction to this stay?
[...] Essco Safety Check Know what’s in your environment « Extension on CPSIA certification and third-party testing [...]
Pingback by CPSIA Stay – What’s a business to do? « Essco Safety Check — December 19, 2009 @ 8:54 am
[...] analyzers. If something isn’t done, the CPSIA is going to affect small businesses tremendously (a stay was recently issue (December 2009) which extended the date on specific certification and testing requreiements for [...]
Pingback by Improving Lives & Creating Jobs « Essco Safety Check — January 6, 2010 @ 9:41 am
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Comment by Carolyn R. Sheldon — January 15, 2010 @ 8:31 pm