CPSC to Vote Nov 3 on Lifting Testing/Certification Stay for Flammability of Kid’s Sleepwear
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is scheduled to vote by November 3, 2010 on a draft Federal Register notice that would establish accreditation requirements for third-party labs to test children's sleepwear in sizes 0-6X and 7-14 to the flammability requirements of 16 CFR Parts 1615 and 1616, respectively.
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Testing/Certification Stay Would be Lifted 90 Days After Lab Requirements Published
CPSC explains that publication of these lab accreditation requirements would effectively lift the stay of enforcement of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) third-party testing and certification requirements for the flammability of children’s sleepwear, which have been stayed since February 2009.1
Therefore, each domestic manufacturer (in the case of domestic products) or importer (in the case of imports)2 of children’s sleepwear that is manufactured 90 days after the notice is published, would have to have sufficient samples of the sleepwear tested for flammability by a CPSC-accredited third party lab and based on that testing, issue a certificate of compliance with 16 CFR Parts 1615 or 1616 before the sleepwear could be imported for consumption or warehousing or distributed in commerce in the U.S.3
60 day extension possible. The draft notice states that CPSC may extend the 90-day period by not more than 60 days if CPSC determines that an insufficient number of third party labs have been accredited to permit certification for a children's product safety rule. Any requests for an extension should contain detailed facts showing why an extension is necessary.
Testing requirements. The draft notice states that children's sleepwear garments subject to these flammability standards must follow specific sampling plans and be tested for flammability performance at several stages of production. The standards have performance requirements for fabric, prototypes (seams and trims), and garment production units. There are also recordkeeping requirements at each stage of testing. (See draft for complete details.)
However, CPSC notes that 16 CFR 1615.35(b)(1) and 1616.35(c)(1) allow a firm to use another testing regime if the firm has proof that the other test is at least as stringent as the Standards.
In addition, the draft notice states that CPSC would not require third party testing to demonstrate that a product meets the exception for "tight-fitting garments" as defined by 16 CFR 1615.1(c) and 1616.2(m), as these garments are not subject to the Standards. However, all fabrics intended for sleepwear meeting the tight-fitting exception from 16 CFR Parts 1615 and 1616 would have meet the flammability requirements of 16 CFR Part 1610, Standard for the Flammability of Clothing Textiles, and 16 CFR Part 1611, Standard for the Flammability of Vinyl Plastic Film. CPSC also would not require that the presence of the required labels and hangtags for tight-fitting garments be subject to third-party testing.
Nov 3 Discussion and Vote not Scheduled to be Public
Note that CPSC’s discussion and vote on this notice is not currently scheduled to be public and that the last discussion of similar notices for different textile products generated some disagreement among the Commissioners. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 07/29/10 and 07/08/10 news, 10072911 and 10070807, for BP summaries of CPSC’s August 4, 2010 meeting agenda and previous discussion of similar notices.)
1In February 2009, CPSC stayed enforcement for one year the CPSIA testing and certification requirements for many products and safety rules, including the flammability of children’s sleepwear. Later, in December 2009, the agency revised the terms of the stay by lifting it for some CPSC regulations and extending it for others. These sets of products fell under the category of products/safety rules for which the stay was extended until further notice by CPSC. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 02/02/09 and 12/29/09 news, 09020205 and 09122920, for BP summaries of the stay.)
2The CPSIA states that manufacturers (which includes importers) and private labelers must issue certificates of conformity based on testing by a third-party lab, but CPSC has interpreted this requirement as affecting domestic manufacturers (in the case of domestic products) and importers (in the case of imported products).
3Note that in August 2009, CPSC determined that many textiles consisting of natural and manufactured fibers do not exceed the CPSIA lead content limits and therefore, do not need CPSIA testing and certification for lead content. (See ITT’s Online Archives 08/21/09 news, 09082110, for BP summary.)