Saturday, August 21, 2010

Third Party Testing for Certain Children's Products; Clothing Textiles: Requirements for Accreditation of Third Party Conformity Assessment Bodies

The Consumer Product Safety Commission proposed accreditation requirements for 3rd party conformity assessment bodies for compliance with 16 CFR 1610, General Wearing Apparel Standard, in the Federal Register on August 18.

Link to Federal Registry notification click here - 75 FR 510167 dt 18th Aug 2010

Exempted from Testing

The following fabrics from actual testing:

(1) plain surface fabrics, regardless of fiber content, weighing 2.6 ounces per square yard or more; and

(2) all fabrics, both plain surface and raised-fiber surface textiles, regardless of weight, made entirely from any of the following fibers or entirely from a combination of the following fibers: acrylic, modacrylic, nylon, olefin, polyester, wool.

From when will this be enforced

This notice of requirements is effective on August 18, 2010. Further, as the publication of this notice of requirements effectively lifts the stay of enforcement with regard to testing and certifications related to 16 CFR part 1610, each manufacturer of a children’s product subject to 16 CFR part 1610 must have any such product manufactured after November 16, 2010 tested by a third party conformity assessment body accredited to do so and must issue a certificate of compliance with 16 CFR part 1610 based on that testing.

What is a Children's Wearing apparel

Section 3(a)(2) of the CPSA defines a children’s product as ‘‘a consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger.’’ Although clothing textiles are often used in non children’s wearing apparel, some clothing textiles are ‘‘designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger.’’ Clothing textiles designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger are subject to the third party testing and certification requirements in section 14(a)(2) of the CPSA

Where do you get your product tested and certified

The Commission requires baseline accreditation of each category of third party conformity assessment body to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electro technical Commission (IEC) Standard 17025:2005, ‘‘General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories.’’ The accreditation must be by an accreditation body that is a signatory to the International Laboratory

For a third party conformity assessment body to be accredited to test children’s products for conformity with the test methods in the regulations identified earlier in part I of this document, it must be accredited by an ILAC–MRA signatory accrediting body, and the accreditation must be registered with, and accepted by, the Commission. A listing of ILAC–MRA signatory accrediting bodies is available on the Internet at http://ilac.org/ membersbycategory.html.

How to find labs approved by CPSC

The Commission has established an electronic accreditation registration and listing system that can be accessed via its Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/ ABOUT/Cpsia/labaccred.html.

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