CPSC to Vote on 2 Rules for 3rd-Party Assessment Bodies on April 4
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has posted a draft final rule on audit requirements for third-party assessment bodies as a condition for their continuing accreditation. CPSC has also posted a draft proposed rule on requirements pertaining to third-party conformity assessment bodies that test children's products for certification. The proposed rule would establish the general requirements for third-party conformity assessment bodies and would amend their audit and inspection requirements, among other things. CPSC is scheduled to vote on both rules on April 4, 2012.
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Background
The Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), as amended by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), requires that that the manufacturer (including the importer) and the private labeler, if any, of a product that is subject to an applicable consumer product safety rule under the CPSA, or any similar rule, ban, standard, or regulation under any other Act enforced by CPSA, issue a certificate, which certifies "based on a test of each product or upon a reasonable testing program, that such product complies" with all rules, bans, etc. This requirement applies to any such product manufactured on or after November 12, 2008.
The amended CPSA establishes a third-party testing requirement for children's products that are subject to a children's product safety rule. In general, every manufacturer or private labeler, if any, of such products shall submit sufficient samples of the product, or samples that are identical in all material respects to the product, to an accredited third-party conformity assessment body to be tested for compliance with such children's product safety rule.
(See ITT's Online Archives 09081499 #6 for summary of CPSC's August 2009 proposed rule on audit requirements for third-party assessment bodies.)
CPSC draft final rule is available here.
CPSC draft proposed rule is available here.