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October 08, 2008
CPSC Explains Testing
and Certification
Requirements Under CPSIA
A recent meeting was
sponsored by the
Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) at its
headquarters on October
2, 2008. The purpose of
the meeting was to
discuss Testing and
Certification
requirements under the
Consumer Product Safety
Improvement Act of 2008.
As the CPSC sought to
offer clarification of
the requirements for
General Conformity
Certification,
Laboratory Accreditation
and Mandatory
Third-Party Testing of
Certain Children’s
Products, the following
points were made:
General Conformity
Certification: |
- What is it?
A General Conformity
Certificate
signifies that a
product complies
with a certain
requirement, such as
a government
standard. It is
essentially a
self-certification,
or a supplier’s
declaration of
conformity and it
may or may not
involve laboratory
testing or labeling
or marking of a
product. It should
be based upon a
"reasonable testing
program" which
provides reasonable
assurance that the
product meets all
requirements of the
standard.
- Which
products must be
certified?
General Conformity
Certification is
required for all
products subject to
a Consumer Product
Safety Act (CPSA)
ban and standard, or
to any similar rule,
ban, standard, or
regulation under any
other Act enforced
by the CPSC. These
include the Federal
Hazardous Substances
Act, the Flammable
Fabrics Act, the
Poison Prevention
Packaging Act and
the Refrigerator
Safety Act. Soon,
these will also
include ASTM
F963-07, once that
becomes a mandatory
standard, as well as
the new lead content
limits, when phased
in, and the new
phthalate bans when
they become
effective. General
Conformity
Certification can be
used even for
children's products
until the mandatory
third-party testing
requirement becomes
effective for those
products.
- Who must
certify? The
manufacturer,
including importers,
as well as foreign
and domestic
manufacturers, must
certify the product.
If the product bears
a private label, the
private labeler must
also certify the
product, unless the
CPSC relieves one or
the other of the
responsibility. A
test laboratory may
not certify the
product.
- How are
certificates made
available? The
certificate must
accompany each
product or shipment
of products covered
by the same
certificate. A copy
of the certificate
(not necessarily a
paper copy) must be
furnished to each
distributor or
retailer of the
product.
- What happens
if I fail to
certify? A
product shall be
refused admission if
it is not
accompanied by the
required certificate
or if it is
accompanied by a
false certificate.
Under these
circumstances, the
product may be
destroyed at the
cost of the
importer.
- When is the
requirement
effective? The
General Conformity
Certification
requirement is
effective November
12, 2008 and applies
to products
manufactured on or
after this date that
are subject to an
existing standard,
- What products
must be certified?
The requirement for
third-party testing
applies to every
children’s product
that is subject to a
"children's product
safety rule," which
is defined to
include any standard
or ban under the
CPSA or any similar
rule, regulation,
standard or ban
under any other Act
enforced by the CPSC,
including a rule
declaring a consumer
product to be a
banned hazardous
substance.
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