US Consumer Product Safety Commission Establishes Third-Party Certification Requirements for Flammability Testing of Children's Clothing, Bedding, Mattresses, and Mattress Sets

On August 18th, the Consumer Product Safety Commission published two circulars in the “Federal Register” on the approval of third party conformity assessment agencies to test products according to certain standards. They are (1) based on the flammability standard of apparel textiles, Section 1610 of Chapter 16 of the Code, testing clothing primarily intended for children 12 years of age or younger; (2) Testing mattresses, mattresses and mattresses mainly intended for children aged 12 or under, in accordance with the mattress flammability regulations. Mat set. Members of the public can submit their opinions on these two circulars before September 17.

According to the Consumer Goods Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), manufacturers of certain types of products (including importers) or private labels must send products that have been manufactured in the Federal Register for 90 days after the laboratory's testing and certification requirements are published. The third-party certification authority that has obtained the certification qualification shall conduct the test and must issue a compliance certificate complying with the applicable regulations according to the relevant test results. The above-mentioned notice will provide for the following items: (1) to test children's clothing according to the flammability standard for clothing and textiles, that is, Article 1610 of Chapter 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and (2) to make it easy to use mattresses and mattresses. The flammability standard is the test of children's bed bugs, mattresses, and mattress sets in Section 1632 and/or 1633 of Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations. These provisions will apply to products manufactured on or after November 17th.

Even if the laboratory's own certification has not yet been accepted by the Committee, the Committee will also accept the laboratory's certification of the test results, provided that:

When the laboratory tests products, the signatories of the "International Laboratory Accreditation Alliance - Mutual Recognition Arrangement" have been certified as conforming to the International Standards Organization/International Electrotechnical Commission ISO/IEC 17025 standards.

On or before October 18, the laboratory accepted an application for testing using the flammability standard test method.

The product was tested on or after August 18th.

When testing, the effective certification scope of a third-party quality assessment agency clearly includes testing according to the flammability standards of clothing and textiles, the flammability standards for mattresses and mattresses, and/or the flammability (open flame) standard for mattress sets. .

Test results show compliance with current applicable standards and/or regulations.

Until the effective date of the mandatory third-party certification, the conditions of the laboratory's certification and the scope of certification including the flammability standards are still valid.

US Consumer Product Safety Commission Establishes Third-Party Certification Requirements for Flammability Testing of Children's Clothing, Bedding, Mattresses, and Mattress Sets