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.

Melamine is a Textile Fiber?

Answer is Yes.

Additional textile fibre name to be added to the list allowed under 2008/121/EC – 2 new Directives and a Proposed Regulation.

Melamine fiber is defined as:
Fibre formed of at least 85% by mass of cross-linked macromolecules made up of
melamine derivatives.

The European Commission has added this new textile fibre name to the list of 47 permitted generic names that may be used in textile product labelling.

• Commission Directive 2009/121/EC of 14 September, 2009, adds the name “Melamine” to the list as item 48 in Annex I and V of the Directive 2008/121/EC.
• A second new Directive 2009/122/EC (14 September, 2009) amends Chapter II of Annex 2 of Directive 96/73/EC to show a new test method (Method 16) for the separation of melamine fibres from cotton and aramid fibres using hot formic acid.

Member states shall bring in to force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this directive by 15 September, 2010.

"Bamboo" fabric is just "Rayon"?

Four US sellers of clothing and other textiles products have been charged by the FTC for claiming bamboo fiberc ontent on products manufactured from rayon. The complaints also charge the companies with making false and unsubstantiated “green” claims that the products are manufactured using environment friendly methods, they retain the natural antimicrobial properties of bamboo and that they are biodegradable.

According to the FTC, the companies falsely claimed that their textile productswere "100 % bamboo fiber" when they were essentially rayon. Noted from the Commission (FTC), Rayon is a man-made fiber created from the cellulose found in plants and trees and processed with a harsh chemical thatreleases hazardous air pollutants. Any plant or tree could be used as the cellulose source, including bamboo, so once the cellulose undergoes the regenerating process (rayon or viscose processes) the generic fiber name wouldbe Rayon. According to the Rules and Regulations under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act 16 CFR 303.7, the definition of Rayon is:

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A manufactured fiber composed of regenerated cellulose, as well as manufactured fibers composed of regenerated cellulose in which substituents have replaced not more than 15% of the hydrogens of the hydroxyl groups. Where the fiber is composed of cellulose precipitated from an organic solution in which no substitution of the hydroxyl groups takes place andno chemical intermediates are formed, the term lyocell may be used as a generic description of the fiber.
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Therefore, unless a product is made directly with bamboo fiber — often called “mechanically processed bamboo” — it can’t be called bamboo. If your product isn’t made directly of bamboo fiber — but is a manufactured fiber for which bamboo was the plant source — it should be labeled and advertised using the proper generic name for the fiber, such as rayon, or “Rayon made from Bamboo.”

CPSIA Updates - Tracking Lables for Children's Products

According to 'Consumer Product Improvement Act of 2008’ (CPSIA), Section 103 requires that; all manufacturers of children’s products must place permanent distinguishing marks on the product and its packaging to provide certain identifying information.

This section allows the Commission to require labels to include elements which will allow the manufacturer and the ultimate consumer to as certain:
• Manufacturer or private labeler (source of product)
• Date and place of manufacture
• Batch, run or lot number
• Other identifying characteristics


The permanent tracking label is required for all children’s products (up to age 12) and their packaging which are manufactured on or after August 14, 2009 (1). The aim of Section 103 is to provide for effective traceability of children’s products in the event of a recall and to allow the ultimate consumer to as certain traceable information of the product.


Congress indicated in the requirement that the tracking labels will be required “to the extent practicable”. This recognizes that it might not be practical to have a permanent label or mark on very small items. The tracking label must also be on the packaging of a product.


The new labeling provision requires that the tracking label must appear permanently on the product and any packaging. Therefore, placing the required information on hangtags or adhesive labels is not acceptable.


Therefore, some of the concerns are outlined below:
• Unclear provisions for items such as socks, gloves, small toys, jewelry items, etc where it is not practicable to use a permanent tracking label directly on the item.
• Batch’ number is not clearly defined.
• ‘Permanent’ and ‘permanently attached’ has not been clearly defined.
• Manufacturers need time to develop labels or other methods of marking that work for their individual products and situations once CPSC issue rules for implementing the tracking labels.


On 13 May, 2009, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) denied the request for a stay of enforcement of the tracking label under section 103 ofthe CPSIA (3). Therefore, this provision will go into effect for items manufactured on or after August 14, 2009. The CPSC is currently working on guidance for tracking labels.


In general existing laws define a permanent label to be such that that it can not be removed without destroying or defacingthe label, and shall not be affixed to any part which is easily detached from the product and shall be affixed in a readily accessible position. The format and position of the label on the product is determined by the manufacturer.