CPSC Staff Submits "Roadmap" for Int'l Toy Safety Alignment

(The Commission’s FY 2010 Operating Plan called for staff to draft such a plan; it has not been approved by the CPSC and may not reflect its views.)

New Approach

Industry Better Placed than Gov'ts to Align Toy Standards

The report states that for many years, stakeholders assumed that global harmonization of most toy safety requirements would come about only as a result of agreements among the regulators of the world’s major markets. However, the approach advocated in this plan assumes instead that regulators should cooperate primarily on the core work for which they are responsible, not on aligning the world’s voluntary industry standards.

This plan also assumes that industry is better placed than governments to select which areas of the world’s various industry toy safety standards make the best candidates for alignment, as well as the schedule for undertaking such work.

Recommendations Could Serve as Blueprint for Other Standards

This roadmap for toy safety regulatory and standards coordination and alignment may have application to coordination and harmonization efforts in other product categories. If this approach to toy safety regulatory and standards coordination and alignment is adopted, staff can apply lessons learned and construct a revised approach, valid across a broad spectrum of products.

Five Recommendations

The document has five broad recommendations which are as follows:

Ask for Stakeholder Input on Int’l Alignment of Unique CPSC Toy Standards

CPSC should continue to carefully examine input from stakeholders about potential improvements in toy safety, including suggestions for improved safety stemming from alignment of existing unique CPSC toy regulations with requirements in other jurisdictions. As a first step, the Commission can signal its continued interest in hearing from stakeholders about potential improvements in toy safety, including improvements from alignment of existing unique CPSC regulations toward requirements in other jurisdictions. If there is significant stakeholder interest and staff sees strong potential for improved safety, staff may recommend to the Commission a reexamination of those regulations, as appropriate.

Urge ASTM to Coordinate with Other Standards Bodies

CSPC should promote international coordination among ASTM International and the other key toy safety standards bodies. For example, as revisions to ASTM F-963 are considered by the ASTM Toy Safety Committee, CPSC technical staff should ensure that the committee is aware of the CPSC’s interest in solutions, coordinated with other key global standards bodies, which ensure a high level of safety. Staff should encourage coordination with other standards bodies, as appropriate, with deference to time and other resource constraints.

Ask Foreign Regulators to Press Their Standards Bodies to Coordinate

The agency should also ask other regulators to use their influence to press for improved international coordination on toy safety standards by their relevant standards bodies. This could be emphasized at the international meeting recommended above. The report explains that in some jurisdictions, selected sections of industry standards have been made mandatory, and these texts may be the basis of most or all of the jurisdiction’s toy safety regulations. In other cases, such as with ASTM F-963 toy standard in the U.S., the entire reference standard has become regulation and has the force of law. Thus, modifying the major reference standards and bringing them into alignment may be the most practical path to regulatory alignment.

Coordinate with Foreign Regulators on Future Toy Safety Rules

The agency should also coordinate with foreign regulators on future toy safety rules to the extent that U.S. consumers may benefit from increased product safety. For example, staff’s initial work on a children’s product safety rulemaking should include an assessment of other such requirements. Such an assessment should include the extent to which discussions with foreign jurisdictions regarding their requirements may be practical and appropriate, how those discussions may be accomplished, and the potential impact on the time it may take to finalize a rule. Such discussions would assist staff in determining whether adoption of another jurisdiction’s requirements would be in the best interests of U.S. consumers.

Facilitate Annual Int’l Regulators Meeting on Consumer Product Issues

CPSC should facilitate an annual international regulators meeting on emerging consumer product safety issues. Staff believes that an appropriate international body of

government product safety regulators should be encouraged to organize an annual international regulators meeting on emerging consumer product safety issues to facilitate an exchange of relevant information among regulators and to inform their planning. At such a meeting, future toy safety regulations in multiple jurisdictions could be discussed and their potential impact examined.

(Note that the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) specifically instructed CPSC to “take into account other children’s product safety rules” as it promulgates its own product safety rules.

In April 2009, the Consumer Policy Committee (COPOLCO) of the International Standards Organization (ISO) issued a report on global usage of the ISO 8124 toy safety standard and competing standards.

In addition, during August 2009, the forum for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) launched an examination on toy safety requirements in the region, with a view toward progress on alignment. APEC held a second toy safety meeting in January 2010, with discussion of an APEC study showing that the toy safety regulations of member economies were based overwhelmingly upon the industry standards promulgated by one or more major standards bodies, ASTM F-963, ISO 8124, and the Committee on European Norms' (CEN) EN -71.7.

Also, in November 2009, the Toy Industry Association convened a meeting of the leadership of ASTM International, the ISO, and the CEN to review differences in processes for developing standards among the various organizations. It was agreed that collaboration on new standards should be a priority for the three bodies, and ISO established an Advisory Panel to ensure adequate coordination.

Lastly, throughout this timeframe, the CEO Roundtable of the world’s major toy companies has met on numerous occasions, with toy safety harmonization on their discussion agenda.)