CPSC Extends General 3rd Party Testing/Certification Stay for Youth ATVs Until Nov 27, but Adds Conditions
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a Federal Register notice on its decision to extend the general stay of enforcement on the third-party testing and certification requirements for youth all-terrain vehicles until November 27, 2011, subject to certain measures and conditions. (See below for details of a more specific stay on the lead content of certain parts of youthATVs.1)
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With this extension, youth ATVs manufactured after November 27, 2011 (from January 25, 2011)2 will have tobe tested by a CPSC accredited third-party lab and certified by the manufacturer/importer as complying with 16 CFR Part 1420 (Requirements for All Terrain Vehicles).
(See ITT’s Online Archives 01/26/11 news, 11012650, for earlier BP summary of CPSC voting to extend this testing/certification stay.)
Extension Granted Because No Third-Party Labs for ATVs
The extension is granted because CPSC recognizes that there are still no CPSC-accredited third-party labs to test youth ATVs at this time.
CPSC Will Conduct Compliance Testing, Take Enforcement Action as Needed
However, CPSC believes that it is important to establish accountability in meeting the CPSIA third-party testing requirement until there are accredited third-party labs that can perform tests to 16 CFR Part 1420.
Accordingly, CPSC staff will begin to conduct compliance testing of youth ATVs. If there is evidence of noncompliance with the requirements of the mandatory standard by the manufacturers that have action plans approved by CPSC, the agency will take appropriate enforcement actions.
GCCs & Quarterly Reports Must be Submitted, Test Reports Upon Request
In addition, CPSC’s extension of the stay of enforcement includes the following conditions:
GCCs. An ATV company that manufactures (imports) or distributes a youth model ATV and has an approved action plan must submit a General Certificate of Conformity (GCC) to CPSC demonstrating compliance with 16 CFR Part 1420, for youth ATVs manufactured on or after March 3, 2011.
(CPSC explains that currently, in addition to complying with the certification label requirement of the ANSI/SVIA--1--2007 mandatory standard and the certification label requirement of section 42(a)(2)(B)3 of the CPSA, ATV companies that manufacture (import) or distribute a youth model ATV must issue GCCs for youth ATVs containing all of the information required by section 14(g) of the CPSA.)
(Note that GCCs are based on individual tests or reasonable testing programs, not on third-party testing by CPSC accredited labs.)
Quarterly reports on testing efforts. An ATV company that manufactures (imports) or distributes a youth model ATV and has an approved action plan must also provide a quarterly report, beginning on April 1, 2011, and again on July 1, 2011, and October 1, 2011, with responses to the following questions:
(i) What efforts has your company made to obtain tests of youth ATVs by third-party labs and to encourage third-party labs to become accredited to do so? (ii) What efforts have been made by the third-party labs that your company has contacted to become accredited to test youth ATVs? If these bodies are not yet accredited, how long will it take to obtain such accreditation? (iii) What barriers are preventing your company from obtaining third party certification?
Test reports (if requested). An ATV company that manufactures (imports) or distributes a youth model ATV and has an approved action plan must submit any test reports supporting the company’s GCCs to CPSC, if requested.
1CPSC has a separate stay of enforcement of the lead content provisions of the CPSIA for certain component parts of youth ATVs, off-road motorcycles, and snowmobiles is still scheduled to remain in effect until May 1, 2011. However, CPSC staff have recently recommended that the Commission vote to extend this stay until November 27, 2011 as well. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 01/26/11 and 05/12/09 news, 11012638 and 09051215, for BP summaries of the scheduled vote on extending the lead content stay for ATVs and the original ATV lead content stay.)
2In December 2010, CPSC granted a 60 day of the testing/certification requirements for ATVs until January 25, 2011 due to insufficient lab capacity. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/09/10 news, 10120919, for BP summary.)
3Section 42 (a)(2) prescribes an additional certification requirement for ATVs in which the manufacturer (importer) or distributor of an ATV subject to an action plan approved by the Commission must identify the applicable action plan and certify compliance with all provisions.
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 08/30/10 news, 10083015, for BP summary of CPSC’s August 2010 notice of lab accreditation requirements for youth ATVs.)
CPSC contact -- Elizabeth Leland (email) eleland@cpsc.gov
(FR Pub 02/01/11)