There has been a lot of activity behind the scenes since Printwear’s last update on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). At the end of last year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) decided to revise the stay of enforcement on specific testing and certification requirements to Feb. 10, 2011. (The stay was previously in effect until Feb. 10, 2010.) The commission’s decision will phase in the testing and certification requirements of certain products. 

Textile screen printers concerned about the regulations should know what is required of them under the Act’s provisions for product certification and labeling. Specifically, the Act aims directly at children’s products, which are defined as those designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger, according to the CPSC’s Guidance on the CPSIA for Small Businesses, Resellers, Crafters and Charities.

Lead update

The Commission decided that the stay on testing non-metal children’s products for lead content will remain in effect, as will testing by a recognized third-party laboratory. Testing for these children’s products is required for those manufactured after Feb. 10, 2011. This stay will allow the commission time to create certified component testing criteria and to define the term “children’s product” for further rulings. Testing and certification will be required once rules associated with the indentified products are established. The groups identified in this stay of products include:

• Baby walkers

• Bath seats

• Caps and toy guns

• Electronic toys

• Carpets and rugs

• Children’s sleepwear

• Durable infant products 

• Phthalates (section 108 of the CPSIA)

• Vinyl plastic film

• Apparel

The CPSC issued an interim enforcement policy on component testing for the total lead limit in children’s products. This policy is an effort to ensure the compliance with a total lead content limit of 300 parts per million (ppm) for children’s products. 

The limit for lead-in-paint was dropped from 600 ppm to 90 ppm on Aug. 14, 2009. Any children’s product that bears paint and is manufactured after that date must be certified through a third-party, CPSC-recognized laboratory. This testing and certification was included in the original stay of enforcement, but as of Feb. 10, 2010, product manufactured after Aug. 14, 2009, needs to be certified as meeting the new limit of 90 ppm on each product.

At this time, the CPSC will accept certification of a children’s product based on component testing carried out by the manufacturer or the supplier of the component materials. The original intent was to have these tests carried out by recognized third-party, CPSC-approved laboratories; there are none established at this time, part of the reason for the stay.

Phthalate update

The Commission also allows the use of component testing to comply with Section 108, which addresses phthalates. Only those specific parts of a children’s toy or child-care article that are likely to contain plasticizers need to be tested. If a children’s toy or child-care article does not have potential to contain plasticizers, it does not need to be tested.

Since the CPSC does indicate that ink systems may contain plasticizers, they must be tested according to the test method CPSC-CH-C1001-09.2.

This provision covers children’s toys and childcare articles. The CPSC does not consider children’s apparel to be a children’s toy but does consider certain apparel items to be child-care articles. With that in mind, in our industry, ink does have the potential to carry plasticizers and must be tested. It can be tested independent from the fabric onto which it will be printed. This testing must be carried out by recognized third-party, CPSC-approved laboratories, but can be instigated by the manufacturer of the component or the raw material (ink).

Tracking labels

Last July, the CPSC issued clarification to those affected by the tracking-label provision of the CPSIA. Section 103(a) requires a manufacturer to place a permanent, distinguishing mark on recognized children’s products and packaging. This provision applies only to products manufactured on or after Aug. 14, 2009. The tracking label requirements are currently in effect.

The main concern of this provision is whether the manufacturer will be able to interpret the identifying marks (or tracking label) in order to convey the necessary information to determine whether the product is involved in a recall. Therefore, the “distinguishing marks” may be codes, designs, symbols, words, letters or any markings that will enable manufacturers to interpret the marks and convey the necessary information to consumers. This statute does not even require that these marks be grouped in one place on the product. The required link to information can be accomplished through the use of a website address and/or names of manufacturers or private labelers for those without Internet access.

What’s on the docket?

The CPSC looks to clearly define which products fall under the scope of the CPSIA requirements. This will include the need to establish, by rulemaking, the definition of a children’s product. This action will become essential, as this rulemaking will set the universe of impacted manufacturers.

The Commission looks to clearly define what representative testing means for a product manufacturer. Issues here are whether it includes every print run, how often the product offerings need to be tested, and so on. 

The Commission has often stated that it does not believe that every product run must be tested. So, what role does component testing play for representative testing? And, for items that include an exempt product, textiles in our case, how can component testing be incorporated as a way to meet the CPSC’s representative-testing program requirements?

These questions still linger but look for information from industry resources as well as from the CPSC directly as answers develop. For more details on the information in this article, visit www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/smbus/cpsiasbguide.html.