Over the past several months, we have discussed the new Consumer Product Safety & Improvement Act (CPSIA) with several clients and we want to get the information out there for all of you to understand how this new law effects the promotional product industry.
The CPSIA was created after the uproar when lead paint was found children's products about a year ago. This new law addresses what is defined to be a child's product, the allowable lead and phthalate content, and how the products are to be third party tested and certified. On February 10th, 2009, the regulations were supposed to take effect on most products. However there has been much discussion and questions over the implementation of this law and how it will be enforced. So the enforcer of this new law, the Consumer Safety & Product Commission (CSPC), decided to put a stay on the enforcement on some of the products until February 10th, 2010. For the promotional product industry, our products were included in this stay of enforcement (except for children's jewelry). So at this time, the law requires promotional products that are meant for children to meet the new standards but require no third party testing and certification until 2010.
A child's toy is defined as a product that is intended primarily for playing with by a child that is 12 years old or younger. A childcare article is defined as a product that is used by a child three years old or younger for sleeping, sucking, feeding or teething. Apparel that is meant for children is included under this new law. The structure of the regulatory system for federal consumer product safety is a combination of regulation by hazards and some regulation by specific product. Given the breadth of promotional products, any attempt to summarize what products are effected and not effected is likely to omit some promotional product and/or hazard.
Effective August 14th, 2009, the manufacturer of children's products is required, to the the extent practical, to put permanent distinguishing marks on the product and packaging that will allow the manufacturer and ultimately the purchaser to ascertain the manufacturer of the product in the future. This information will include tracking labels with information including when the product was run, the batch number and identifying characteristics.
The promotional product industry has a lot of questions about how this law will be enforced with the broad language and definitions and what is applicable and what is not. We hope to receive more clarification in the coming months from the CPSC.
There is a tremendous amount of details regarding product safety, the allowable content and how the products will be tested and verified. To learn more about this act, we encourage you to go to http://www.ppai.org/Member/productsafety.aspx.
We will keep you updated on this important legislation as we learn more details.
Michael Wolaver - Magallan Promotions
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