What are durable infant or toddler products?
A durable infant or toddler product is a durable product intended for use, or that may be reasonably expected to be used, by children under the age of 5 years and is one of the following:
What safety rules and requirements currently exist for domestic manufacturers or importers of durable infant or toddler products?
All durable infant or toddler products, regardless of type, must currently meet certain children’s product safety requirements, such as those for lead in surface coatings, lead content, phthalate content (in certain circumstances), mandatory testing at a CPSC-accepted laboratory, certification, registration cards, and tracking labels and other markings. These requirements are detailed more fully below.
In addition, those durable products for which the Commission has issued final regulations must comply with additional safety requirements, which are usually physical and mechanical in nature.
The manufacturer or importer is responsible for testing, certifying, labeling, and adding the registration card requirements to all of these products.
The Commission is continuing to develop final rules for the remaining durable infant and toddler products above. Until such time as the Commission completes that work, manufacturers and importers of other durable infant or toddler product are encouraged to comply with the now voluntary safety and performance standards, which, in most cases, are issued by ASTM International.
What is the consumer registration requirement for durable infant or toddler products?
In order to improve recall effectiveness, Congress has required that manufacturers of covered products:
- Provide consumers with a postage-paid product registration card with each product;
- Maintain a record of the names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and other contact information of consumers who register their products; and
- Permanently place the manufacturer/importer, U.S. contact information, model name and number, and the date of manufacture on each durable infant or toddler product.
These requirements are currently in effect and apply to all manufacturers of durable infant and toddler products listed above, regardless of whether a specific children’s product safety rule has been issued by the Commission for their particular product.
Learn more about these product registration requirements, and see in depth FAQs here.
What children’s product safety requirements currently exist for durable infant or toddler products as required under CPSIA?
Durable infant or toddler products are subject to requirements for lead in surface coatings, lead and (in certain circumstances) phthalate content, testing and certification, registration cards, and tracking labels. These requirements are discussed below and at www.cpsc.gov/BusinessEducation:
- Surface Coating Limit: Durable infant or toddler products must not be painted with paint that contains more than 90 ppm (0.009 percent) lead.
- Lead Content Limit: Durable infant or toddler products must not contain greater than 100 ppm (0.01 percent) of total lead content in any accessible component part.
- Phthalate Content Limits: Durable infant or toddler products that contain plasticized parts that are designed, marketed, or intended to facilitate sleep or have plasticized components that are designed, marketed, or intended to facilitate eating, must not contain more than 0.1 percent of the following eight specified phthalates: di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), di-n-pentyl phthalate (DPENP), di-n-hexyl phthalate (DHEXP), and dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP).
- Testing and Certification: Durable infant or toddler products, like all products that are designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger, must be tested by a CPSC-accepted, third party laboratory for compliance with all applicable children's product safety rules. Based on that testing, a domestic manufacturer (or importer) of a durable infant or toddler product must issue a Children's Product Certificatespecifying each applicable safety rule and indicating that the product complies with those rules.
- Product and Outer Package Labeling Requirements: Durable infant or toddler products must be permanently marked with specific labeling information, including tracking labels, on the product and on the packaging. In addition, durable infant or toddler products are required to have additional product markings and a product registration card attached to the product. This chart summarizes the specific labeling and registration requirements that durable infant and toddler products must meet. Also please question directly below and see in depth FAQs here.
Is third party testing and certification required for durable infant or toddler products?
Yes. And for those durable infant or toddler products for which the Commission has already issued children’s product safety rules, third party testing and certification requirements are also in effect for those rules. In the situation where new rules for durable infant or toddler products are being proposed or passed, the effective enforcement date for third party testing is generally 90 days after the Commission provides procedural notice to the testing laboratories. You should review each individual rule as it is released for precise dates.
Signing up for email alerts will provide you the most up to date information on each new durable infant or toddler product rule.
Is previously-conducted testing to a new durable infant or toddler product standard acceptable for certifying my product as compliant?
Previously-conducted testing to a new requirement may be acceptable as the basis for certifying a product as compliant provided that certain guidelines are met. This is called retrospective testing. If the Commission accepts this retrospective testing, the Commission will provide guidance on how a certifier may rely upon the previously conducted testing. CPSC has provided an outline of some of the conditions previously required in the last question on the Third Party Testing FAQ page.
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.
What is the best way to stay current on the requirements for durable infant products?
Small Business Ombudsman mailing list: Distributes plain English explanations of certain Commission actions and provides occasional updates on Commission rulemaking and other activities.
Twitter: Follow the Small Business Ombudsman @CPSCSmallBiz for more frequent updates on CPSC requirements.
Follow CPSC on Regulations.gov through a direct search or via an RSS feed for real time updates. Regulations.gov also has a list of all rules open for comment.
Contact the SBO directly: If you’re still not sure and would like further assistance with your product, you may contact the Small Business Ombudsman directly through this contact form or by phone at (888) 531-9070.
This communication has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is based upon the facts and information presented. This communication does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice and has not been reviewed or approved by the Commission, and does not necessarily represent their views. Any views expressed in this communication may be changed or superseded by the Commission.