The US Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) to allow existing accredited laboratories two years to update their scope of accreditation to the latest method for CPSIA phthalates. If approved, the final rule could become effective sometime in 2018.

SAFEGUARDS | Toys & Juvenile Products NO. 176/17

On October 27, 2017, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published the final rule [1] to restrict eight phthalates in toys and childcare articles under section 108 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA, 16 CFR Part 1307). That final rule was a children's safety rule and requires the CPSC to issue a Notice of Requirements (NOR) for the accreditation of third-party conformity assessment bodies or laboratories.

On the same day of publication of the aforementioned final rule for CPSIA phthalates, the CPSC also published an NPR in the Federal Register (82 FR 49768 [2]). This NPR contains a number of important provisions, including the following:

  • Provided the laboratory is already CPSC-accepted to test to CPSC-CH-C1001-09.3 (2010) [3], CPSC would accept testing to the new restrictions for eight phthalates for 2 years from the date of publication of the final NOR Rule in the Federal Register.

  • Until laboratories have transitioned their accreditation scope and listing to 'CPSC-CH-C1001-09.4', the following must be stated in test reports to support certification of the new restrictions for eight phthalates:

    • '16 CFR Part 1307' and 'CPSC-CH-C1001-09.3'

  • CPSC would open the laboratory application process for draft test method CPSC-CH-C1001-09.4 (2017) [4] on the date the final NOR Rule is published in the FR. The draft test method could change in the final rule.

With a deadline of January 10, 2018 for comments for this NPR, the final rule could be published in the Federal Register by mid-2018. The proposed effective date for the final rule is 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Stakeholders are advised to comply with the latest requirements for phthalates in toys and child care articles for the US market.

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SGS SA published this content on 27 November 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 27 November 2017 05:16:07 UTC.

Original documenthttp://www.sgs.com/en/news/2017/11/safeguards-17617-us-cpsc-publishes-npr-for-accredited-labs-to-comply-with-cpsia-phthalates

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