Intertek’s Web App HelpsChildrenswear Firms Track New CPSIA Rules
Childrenswear manufacturers and importers have a new set of rules to comply with the safety standards under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).
The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s new third-party testing and certification rules were approved in 2011 but did not go into effect until this month. Under the new rules, domestic manufacturers, importers and private-label makers are required to meet two new rules: 1. “If there is a material change to the product—such as changes in the product design, manufacturing process or the source of component parts—firms must re-test and re-certify that the product complies with federal safety standards.”
- “Firms must keep records on the testing and certification for their children’s products.”
Companies that meet the two new rules can label their products “Meets CPSC Safety Requirements,” although labeling is voluntary.
Companies may “use component part and finished product testing conducted by their suppliers in order to meet the testing and certification requirements.”Manufacturers may also use representative samples for testing provided the samples are “known to be representative of all the products manufactured or imported since their last periodic or certification test.”
Third-party testing must be done by a CPSC-accepted lab. The commission has on its website (www.cpsc.gov)a list of approved labs across the world. Oak Brook, Ill.–based testing and compliance–solutions provider Intertek is one of the companies on the list, with CPSC-accredited labs that administer testing for toys, juvenile products, textiles and footwear to meet CPSIA standards.Intertek also has a Web-based application that helps companies assemble their technical files along the supply chain.
Importers or manufacturers enter product-specific information intoiComply, which produces a test plan for production and then generates the needed compliance documents and stores them in a file that is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The application has an annual license fee of $99 per account.
In addition, Intertek has recently expanded its services portfolio to help companies comply with recently proposed changes to California Proposition 65, which aims to protect drinking water from toxic substances that cause cancer and birth defects and to reduce exposure to those chemicals by requiring warning labels.
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) recently announced a notice of intent to add Bisphenol A to the California Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause reproductive toxicity.
If adopted, the maximum allowable dose level for BPA will be 290 micrograms per day.The California Proposition 65 listing is not a proposed ban of BPA, but it will regulate that warning labels are to be applied to consumer products if the potential exposure to consumers will exceed the maximum allowable dose level.
Intertek has extensive experience in providing Proposition 65 services for products including chemical testing and analysis, toxicological risk assessments, exposure assessments, strategy development, consulting, training, supply chain–compliance support, and litigation support.For more information, visit www.intertek.com. —Alison A. Nieder
