Business Guidance FAQ

Federal law requires that hand-held infant carriers comply with the Safety Standard for Hand-Held Infant Carriers, 16 CFR part 1225 (effective January 1, 2021), and with additional requirements, including those of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). 

Note that hand-held infant carriers that function as car seats are also regulated by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, under 49 C.F.R. § 571.213 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213.

Manufacturers and importers of hand-held infant carriers must certify in a Children's Product Certificate that the hand-held infant carriers comply with the standard and the additional requirements after the hand-held infant carriers have been tested for compliance at a CPSC-accepted, third party laboratory. These requirements are discussed below and at: www.cpsc.gov/BusinessEducation.

A hand-held infant carrier is a freestanding, rigid or semi-rigid-sided product intended to carry an occupant, whose torso is completely supported by the product, to facilitate transportation by a caregiver by means of hand-holds or handles.

There are two categories of hand-held infant carriers: hand-held infant carrier seats and hand-held bassinets/cradles. The former often double as an automotive child restraint system (i.e., car seat). The second category, hand-held bassinets/cradles, are carriers designed for the occupant to lie flat, to facilitate sleeping.

The standard seeks to minimize the risk of deaths and injuries associated with the use of hand-held infant carriers outside of a motor vehicle, specifically incidents related to handle strength and integrity, restraint use, carrier tip over, and falls from elevated surfaces.

The standard is published in the Code of Federal Regulations at 16 CFR Part 1225. The standard incorporates by reference ASTM F2050-19. ASTM F2050-19, the Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Hand-Held Infant Carriers, details the specific requirements and descriptions of the tests for hand-held infant carriers and can be purchased from ASTM International.

The CPSC standard includes performance requirements specific to hand-held infant carriers, general performance requirements, and labeling requirements. The key provisions of the hand-held infant carrier standard include the following:

• Carry Handle Auto-Locking–this requirement applies only to products having a rigid, adjustable carry handle that rotates about a singular axis and locks. The requirement mandates that the handle must lock automatically when placed into the manufacturer’s designated carry position.
• Carry Handle Integrity–intended to ensure that the carry handle does not break or unlatch during normal or foreseeable use.
• Restraint System–intended to ensure that a restraint system is provided on hand-held carrier seats to secure a child in the seated position.  This requirement also prohibits restraints in hand-held bassinets/cradles.
• Slip Resistance–intended to prevent carriers from slipping or falling from elevated surfaces.
• Warnings–intended to alert the caregiver to infant strangulation, fall, and suffocation hazards when using hand-held infant carriers.

The ASTM standard also includes the following general requirements:

• requirements for latching and locking mechanisms;
• requirements to prohibit small parts, sharp points and edges;
• requirements for wood parts, to prevent splinters;
• requirements to prevent scissoring, shearing, and pinching;
• entrapment testing for accessible holes and openings;
• torque/tension testing for graspable components;
• a requirement that warning labels be permanent; and
• requirements for toy accessories to meet ASTM F963 Toy Safety standard requirements for instructional literature.

Hand-held infant carriers are subject to requirements for 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: Hand-held infant carriers must not be painted with paint that contains more than 90 ppm (0.009 percent) lead.
• Lead Content Limit: Hand-held infant carriers must not contain greater than 100 ppm (0.01 percent) of total lead content in any accessible component part.
• Phthalate Content Limits: Hand-held infant carriers 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: Hand-held infant carriers, 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 the hand-held infant carrier standard and all other applicable children's product safety rules. Based on that testing, a domestic manufacturer (or importer) of hand-held infant carriers must issue a Children's Product Certificate specifying each applicable rule and indicating that the product complies with those rules.
• Product and Outer Package Labeling Requirements:  Durable infant or toddler products, such as hand-held infant carriers, 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. 

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:

• Baby Changing Products
• Bassinets and Cradles
• Bedside Sleepers
• Booster Seats
• Carriages and Strollers
• Children’s Folding Chairs and Stools
• Cribs (Full-Size)
• Cribs (Non Full-Size)
• Crib Mattresses
• Frame Child Carriers
• Gates and Enclosures
• Hand-Held Infant Carriers
• High Chairs
• Infant Bath Seats
• Infant Bath Tubs
• Infant Bouncer Seats
• Infant Sleep Products
• Infant Swings
• Infant Walkers
• Play Yards
• Portable Bed Rails
• Portable Hook-On Chairs
• Sling Carriers
• Soft Infant and Toddler Carriers
• Stationary Activity Centers
• Toddler Beds

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.

In order to improve recall effectiveness, Congress has required that manufacturers of covered products:

1. Provide consumers with a postage-paid product registration card with each product;
2. Maintain a record of the names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and other contact information of consumers who register their products; and
3. 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.

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 Certificate specifying 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.

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.

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.  

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.

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The product registration card requirement for durable infant or toddler products will help improve the effectiveness and response rates for future recalls. CPSC has issued precise requirements about what needs to be included on the cards.  

This chart summarizes the specific labeling and registration requirements that durable infant and toddler products must meet.

In order to improve recall effectiveness, Congress has required that manufacturers of covered products:

1. Provide consumers with a postage-paid product registration card with each product;
2. Maintain a record of the names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and other contact information of consumers who register their products; and
3. Permanently place the manufacturer name and contact information, model name and number, and the date of manufacture on each durable infant or toddler product.  

Product registration cards are required for all durable infant and toddler products in order to enable the manufacturer or retailer of the product to contact consumers with recall or other safety information. The exact requirements for the postage-paid cards – the details of the text and the required format – are described in detail in the final rule, as corrected. More information on product registration cards is provided in the FAQs below.

The product registration card must be attached to the surface of the durable infant or toddler product so that the consumer will notice and handle the form after purchasing the product.

The product registration card has certain information already on it, such as the manufacturer's name and contact information, the model name and number (or other identifier), and the date of manufacture. The consumer provides his/her name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address.

The product registration card must provide an option for the consumer to register the product through the internet or via e-mail.

Manufacturers must maintain a record of the names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and other contact information of consumers who register their ownership of a durable infant or toddler product. Manufacturers must use this information only to notify the consumer of safety alerts or recalls regarding the product and are prohibited from using this information for marketing, promotional, or any other purpose. 

Records must be maintained for not less than six years after the date of manufacture of the product.

The manufacturer must permanently place the manufacturer name and contact information, model name and number, and the date of manufacture on each durable infant or toddler product.

• Product Registration Card Final Rule, as amended (without preamble)
• Product Registration Card Final Rule (with preamble) [pdf]
• Amendments to the Product Registration Card Final Rule (with preamble) [pdf]

The rule applies to the following product categories: 

• Baby Changing Products
• Bassinets and Cradles
• Bedside Sleepers
• Booster Seats
• Carriages and Strollers
• Children’s Folding Chairs and Stools
• Cribs (Full-Size)
• Cribs (Non Full-Size)
• Frame Child Carriers
• Gates and Enclosures
• Hand-Held Infant Carriers
• High Chairs Infant Bath Seats
• Infant Bath Tubs
• Infant Bouncer Seats
• Infant Sleep Products
• Infant Swings
• Infant Walkers
• Play Yards
• Portable Bed Rails
• Portable Hook-On Chairs
• Sling Carriers
• Soft Infant and Toddler Carriers
• Stationary Activity Centers
• Toddler Beds

No.  A single product registration card attached to one of the principal components is sufficient. 

No, accessories sold independently of the nursery product are not covered by the registration rule.

The domestic manufacturer or the importer (of foreign made products) is responsible for compliance.

The importer is responsible for complying with all of the requirements of the rule (which are summarized in response to the first question above). See 16 CFR § 1130.3. The rule applies to "manufacturers" of durable infant or toddler products. However, for a foreign-made product, the manufacturer is the importer of the product.

Registration cards must state all information in English, include the manufacturer's name, the model name, and number for the product, and the date of manufacture, and they must include an option for consumers to register through the Internet. Registration cards also must include a statement that information provided by the consumer shall not be used for any purpose other than to facilitate a recall of or safety alert regarding that product. See 16 CFR § 1130.5; see also, 16 CFR § 1130.6 for format and § 1130.7 for text of the registration card.

Yes. Section 104(d) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act states that the product registration rule, which contains these requirements for marking or labeling, is a consumer product safety rule. A consumer product that fails to comply with an applicable consumer product safety rule shall be refused admission. 15 U.S.C. § 2066(a)(1). Alternatively, the CPSC may request that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seize and forfeit the product under the Tariff Act.

If a product is not marked or labeled at the time of importation, it still may be physically entered into the United States, but it will not be deemed legally admissible into the United States until marking or labeling occurs.

The product can be entered into the United States for warehousing, and it can be marked or labeled in the warehouse before it is withdrawn for consumption. You can file a consumption entry with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the product may be released conditionally by the CPSC and CBP under the CBP basic importation bond for the purposes of marking or labeling the product at the importer's premises or another location agreeable to the CPSC and CBP.

If an importer seeks to use these options to mark or label its product, the product is subject to an inspection by CPSC staff to verify that the newly affixed markings and labels satisfy the requirements.

The CPSC will notify the importer of the duration of the conditional release period on a case-by-case basis, although the typical timeframe will be 30 days. Individual circumstances concerning the type of product and the complexity of marking and labeling will be taken into account.

A failure to mark or label a product, as required by the product registration rule, or inadequate marking or labeling of a product, will result in the product being refused admission into the United States by the CPSC. See 15 U.S.C. § 2066(a)(1). Alternatively, the CPSC may request that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seize and forfeit the product under the Tariff Act.

If a product is refused admission, it must be destroyed at the importer's expense or exported under government supervision. Failure to export or destroy the product will result in the assessment of liquidated damages against the importer, usually in an amount equal to three times the value of the product upon entry into the United States. Alternatively, the CPSC may request that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seize and forfeit the product under the Tariff Act.

Yes. If the product arrives without the required marking or labeling, you can export the product under a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in-bond entry for export without having to mark or label it, and there is no need to file a consumption entry. If you have filed a consumption entry and ask for a conditional release, you can export the product even before the CPSC refuses admission. But you must notify the CPSC and CBP if that is your decision, and then you must follow CBP instructions regarding exportation.

The CPSC will notify the importer of the duration of the conditional release period on a case-by-case basis, typically 30 days. Individual circumstances concerning the type of product and the complexity of attaching the accompanying registration card will be taken into account.

If product is refused admission, it must be destroyed at the importer's expense or exported under government supervision. Failure to export or destroy the product will result in the assessment of liquidated damages against the importer, usually in an amount equal to three times the entered value of the product. (See 19 C.F.R. § 113.6(m)). Alternatively, the CPSC may request that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seize and forfeit the product under the Tariff Act.

If the importer did not make registration cards available, or failed to attach the registration cards to the products that are subject to the requirements, the importer may be held liable.

No. The importer may use a website established by others, or the importer may provide an e-mail address where consumers can send their registration information, but only if the importer lacks a website for consumers to register their products. If importers provide an e-mail address, the e-mail address must be set up to provide an automatic reply to confirm receipt of the consumer's information. Limited information is required for the consumer to submit the registration form.

Yes. If necessary, the importer is allowed to use the facilities and capabilities of a third party located in the United States for maintaining these records.