Industry Petitions CPSIA Lawmakers
A group of representatives from several industry associations met with lawmakers to discuss the ramifications of the Consumer Product Safety Committee’s Improvement Act of 2008, a law that requires new testing and certification for children’s apparel. On Jan. 30, the CPSC issued a note staying the law’s enforcement of testing and certification requirements, although industry watchers are still debating how the notice will affect the apparel, retail and textile industries.
Richard Wortman, a partner at Los Angeles–based law firm Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt, was hesitant to say exactly what this latest development means to the law, which has been decried as confusing and overly harsh for the apparel industry.
“Essentially what the note means is they are staying the requirement for testing and certification, but not eliminating the requirement that the [product] has to pass the test,” he said. “The note is very vague and confusing.”
A memo from his firm said the stay for testing and certification is applicable to manufacturers and importers with regard to the lead content standard, the phthalate standard and a safety standard for toys. The stay will remain in effect until at least Feb. 10, 2010.
The CPSIA was passed in August and made significant changes to previous regulations. It imposes additional compliance requirements for consumer products produced domestically and abroad.
Manufacturers making apparel for primarily children age 12 or younger will take the brunt of the law, facing staggered deadlines for new lead-paint requirements and third-party testing of lead content in small parts and metal jewelry. Other requirements call for tracking labels on children’s products that show where the garment was made, its batch number and other information not previously made available to the consumer.
It is unclear how the stay will affect the Feb. 10 deadline, when all children’s products was required to meet the CPSIA’s tough new lead and phthalate standards. Under the CPSIA’s original guidelines, untested apparel would be labeled as a “banned hazardous substance,” which cannot be sold or distributed in the United States. This could include items that were manufactured before the testing deadline and were already shipped to manufacturers or retailers. Under the original wording, the legislation would be retroactive to include any garments that were made, shipped or on sales floors before Feb. 10.
Several organizations, including the California Fashion Association, American Apparel and Footwear Association, the National Retail Federation and the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel, followed up their meeting with the commission with a letter, restating their areas of concern.
Text of the CPSC’s stay of enforcement note is available here.
Text of the associations' letter to the commission is available here.
