May 2012

How are mandatory children’s product safety rules for durable infant or toddler products updated when the voluntary standard (on which the mandatory rule is based) is updated or revised?

The standards organization that issued the voluntary standard (for this class of products, it is most often ASTM International) must provide official notice to the Commission that the standard has been revised. Thereafter, the revised voluntary standard automatically will be considered to be the new, revised mandatory children’s product safety rule 180 days after notification to the Commission by the standards organization, unless the Commission takes additional action. If, after receiving notification of the revision(s) to the standard—and within 90 days from the date of notification to it—the Commission determines that the proposed revision(s) does not improve the safety of the consumer product covered by the standard, and the Commission notifies the standards organization of its determination, the revisions to the voluntary standard do not take effect, and the applicable mandatory children’s product safety rule remains unchanged.