Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Definition of Children's Products under CPSIA

Several CPSIA provisions use the term ‘children’s product’ and it has been defined as "a consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger." For this term, several factors are required to be considered when making a determination as to whether a product is "designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger."

These factors include:
• A statement by the manufacturer describing the intended use of the product, including a label on such product if such statement is reasonable;
• Whether the product is represented in its packaging, display, promotion, or advertising as appropriate for use by children 12 years of age or younger;
• Whether the product is commonly recognized by consumers as being intended for use by a child 12 years of age or younger; and

• The Age Determination Guidelines issued by the Commission staff in September 2002 and any successor to such guidelines.

The new definitions as stated below are presented in the proposed interpretative rule.
"Children's Product” : a consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger. The term "designed or intended primarily" applies to those products designed and commonly recognized as intended for use by a population of consumers constituted by a significant proportion of children 12 years old or younger. Products intended for use by children 12 years or younger applies to those products children will physically interact with based on the reasonably foreseeable use and misuse of such products.

"General Use Product" : A consumer product that is not being marketed to or advertised as being primarily intended for use by children 12 years old or younger and that is used by a significant proportion of the population older than 12 years of age.

The information is clearly designed to provide detailed guidance to manufacturers on how to evaluate their consumer products as they attempt to determine whether those products are children's products.

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