Industry News

Important Information: CPSIA – New Product Safety Regulations

Do the new safety regulations have you confused? You’re not alone. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced lots of new regulations that take effect this year, mostly for children’s products. There are new limits for lead, phthalates and more. The regulations affect all parts of our industry’s supply chain, from manufacturing to retailing. This link to the US government’s website can explain the act and ever changing regulation. CPSIA Web Site.

As a customer of MacPherson’s, you can take comfort in our steady leadership and proactive approach. We have been very busy collecting all of the information required by the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) regulations. We are securing all the Product Safety Testing Certificates for all of our proprietary products (Art Alternatives, Okido, SOS, etc) and will build an online database where they can be accessed by retailers, end-users, the Consumer Products Safety Commission and US Customs. In the meantime, we will make all certificates in our archives available upon request. We are also relabeling any of the products requiring new safety warnings, though it may take awhile for our existing inventory to cycle through and for the new labels to arrive in your stores. (The new labels are required for products manufactured after Feb. 10th.) Additionally, we are conforming with the new Homeland Security measures put into place for 2009, to make sure our shipments reach us in their expected time-frame.

We are contacting the vendors whose products we distribute, requesting GCCs (General Conformity Certifications) and access to their Product Safety Certifications. We are asking them to tell us of any currently non-compliant products sold to MacPherson’s, so that we can let you know of any problems. We are verifying that anything sold to MacPherson’s from now on will meet 2009 regulations. This is a huge project; we are aware of the timetable and we are working diligently to conform to all regulations. The earliest deadline is about lead in children’s products and it takes effect Feb. 10th. From what we are hearing, compliance dates may change, but that won’t stop us from collecting all the necessary information.

You can be assured that MacPherson’s is aware of the new regulations and is working hard to meet them. Please contact us any time to ask about our progress or about specific certificates.

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