Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : EIC 111/2/21

11 August 2011

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 488/2011

US : The Stay of Enforcement for Testing and Certification Requirements pertaining to Phthalates Limits in Children's Toys and Child Care Articles to be Lifted on 1 January 2012; CPSC's Notice on Requirements for Accreditation of Third Party Conformity Assessment Bodies related to Testing of Phthalates Limits in Children's Toys and Child Care Articles

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published in the Federal Register (FR) of 10 August 2011 a notice of requirements that provides the criteria and process for CPSC's acceptance of accreditation of third party conformity assessment bodies for testing pursuant to the phthalates limits in Section 108 of the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). These accreditation requirements came into effect on 10 August 2011. The FR notice is available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-08-10/pdf/2011-19678.pdf. Interested parties may submit comments in response to this notice of requirements to the CPSC by 9 September 2011. 

2.Traders have been informed via Commercial Information Circulars No. 657/2009 dated 29 December 2009 and 101/2011 dated 9 February 2011 of the CPSC's stay of enforcement, until further notice, of testing and certification requirements of various products, including the phthalates limits of Section 108 of the CPSIA. Through the publication of this notice of requirements, the CPSC announced the stay of enforcement of the third-party testing and certification requirements pertaining to testing of phthalates limits in children's toys and child care articles pursuant to Section 108 of the CPSIA is effective until 31 December 2011. 

DETAILS

Testing and Certification Requirements

3.Section 108 of the CPSIA stipulates that beginning on 10 February 2009:

• children's toys or child care articles that contain concentrations of more than 0.1% of either di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) are prohibited for sale, offer for sale, distribution in commerce, or import into the US;
• three other phthalates, diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), and di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) in concentrations exceeding 0.1% will be subject to a temporary ban if they are used in child care article or children's toys small enough to be put in a child's mouth.

4.Pursuant to the US Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), as amended by the CPSIA, and this notice of requirements, each manufacturer (including the importer) or private labeller of children's toys and child care articles, which are designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger, subject to the phthalates limits must have such products manufactured on or after 1 January 2012, tested by a third party conformity assessment body accredited to do so, and must issue a certificate of compliance with the applicable regulations based on that testing.

5.The CPSC also announced that the "Draft Guidance regarding Which Children's Products are subject to the Requirements of CPSIA Section 108" published in February 2009 and the "Statement of Policy: Testing of Component Parts with Respect to Section 108 of the CPSIA" published in August 2009 are still valid until further notice. In brief, the CPSC states that only those plastic parts or other product parts which could conceivably contain phthalates (the plasticized component parts) should be tested for phthalates. The CPSC considers it unnecessary to test and certify materials that are known not to contain phthalates or to certify that phthalates are absent from materials that are known not to contain phthalates. Examples quoted by the CPSC include untreated/unfinished wood, metal, natural fibers, natural latex and mineral products. In addition, the assessment of the concentration of phthalates is to be based on testing of the plasticized component parts only, rather than testing of the entire product, to avoid dilution of the concentrations of phthalates. For details of these documents, please refer to Commercial Information Circulars Nos. 103/2009 dated 25 February 2009 and 425/2009 dated 18 August 2009. As the CPSC may, from time to time, updates these documents, traders are advised to visit the CPSC's designated website on CPSIA to obtain latest information at: http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html. Traders are also advised to seek clarifications with their importers in the US in order to comply with the necessary requirements.

Accreditation Requirements for Third Party Conformity Assessment Bodies

6.This notice of requirements provides the criteria and process for CPSC's acceptance of accreditation of third party conformity assessment bodies for testing pursuant to the following test methods:

• CPSC-CH-C1001-09.3, Standard Operating Procedure for Determination of Phthalates, issued on 1 April 2010 (the CPSC Test Method). This is the most recent version of the test method and is available at the CPSC's website at:
  http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/CPSC-CH-C1001-09.3.pdf.
• GB/T 22048-2008, Toys and Children's Products - Determination of Phthalate Plasticizers in Plastic, issued on 16 June 2008 (the Chinese Test Method).

7.Third party conformity assessment bodies, that wish to be accredited to test the children's toys and child care articles for conformity with the applicable test methods as codified in the standards mentioned above, must be accredited by an accrediting body that is a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation-Mutual Recognition Arrangement (ILAC-MRA) and the accreditation must be registered with, and accepted by the CPSC. The CPSC has established an electronic accreditation registration and listing system that can be accessed via its website at http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/labaccred.html. Please refer to the FR notice for details of the requirements for accreditation.

ENQUIRIES

8.For enquiries concerning this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5682.

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Carmen CHAN)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry