FYI

James Robertson
Rep. Whitfield

NEWS from CPSC

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2009
Release #09-115
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908


CPSC Grants One Year Stay of Testing and Certification Requirements for
Certain Products

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted
unanimously (2-0) to issue a one year stay of enforcement for certain
testing and certification requirements for manufacturers and importers of
regulated products, including products intended for children 12 years old
and younger. These requirements are part of the Consumer Product Safety
Improvement Act (CPSIA), which added certification and testing requirements
for all products subject to CPSC standards or bans.

Significant to makers of children's products, the vote by the Commission
provides limited relief from the testing and certification requirements
which go into effect on February 10, 2009 for new total lead content limits
(600 ppm), phthalates limits for certain products (1000 ppm), and mandatory
toy standards, among other things. Manufacturers and importers - large and
small - of children's products will not need to test or certify to these new
requirements, but will need to meet the lead and phthalates limits,
mandatory toy standards and other requirements.

The decision by the Commission gives the staff more time to finalize four
proposed rules which could relieve certain materials and products from lead
testing and to issue more guidance on when testing is required and how it is
to be conducted.

The stay will remain in effect until February 10, 2010, at which time a
Commission vote will be taken to terminate the stay.

The stay does not apply to:

a.. 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 December 21, 2008;

· The standards for full-size and non full-size cribs and pacifiers
effective for products made after January 20, 2009;

· The ban on small parts effective for products made after February
15, 2009; and

· The limits on lead content of metal components of children's
jewelry effective for products made after March 23, 2009.

a.. Certification requirements applicable to ATV's manufactured after
April 13, 2009.
b.. 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; and
c.. Pool drain cover requirements of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa
Safety Act.
The stay of enforcement provides some temporary, limited relief to the
crafters, children's garment manufacturers and toy makers who had been
subject to the testing and certification required under the CPSIA. These
businesses will not need to issue certificates based on testing of their
products until additional decisions are issued by the Commission. However,
all businesses, including, but not limited to, handmade toy and apparel
makers, crafters and home-based small businesses, must still be sure that
their products conform to all safety standards and similar requirements,
including the lead and phthalates provisions of the CPSIA.

Handmade garment makers are cautioned to know whether the zippers, buttons
and other fasteners they are using contain lead. Likewise, handmade toy
manufacturers need to know whether their products, if using plastic or soft
flexible vinyl, contain phthalates.

The stay of enforcement on testing and certification does not address thrift
and second hand stores and small retailers because they are not required to
test and certify products under the CPSIA. The products they sell, including
those in inventory on February 10, 2009, must not contain more than 600 ppm
lead in any accessible part. The Commission is aware that it is difficult to
know whether a product meets the lead standard without testing and has
issued guidance for these companies that can be found on our web site.

The Commission trusts that State Attorneys General will respect the
Commission's judgment that it is necessary to stay certain testing and
certification requirements and will focus their own enforcement efforts on
other provisions of the law, e.g. the sale of recalled products.

Please visit the CPSC Web site at www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html for
more information on all of the efforts being made to successfully implement
the CPSIA.

Statements on this vote by Acting Chairman Nancy Nord and Commissioner
Thomas H. Moore are in portable document format (PDF).

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Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of
serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under
the agency's jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and
families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical
hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as
toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals -
contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries
associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's
hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or
visit CPSC's web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email
subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx.
Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's Web site
at www.cpsc.gov.





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