The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued an interim enforcement policy applicable to testing and certification requirements effective August 14, 2009, for the lead limits in paint and children’s products. The rule reduced the lead limit in paint and similar surface coatings from 600 parts per million (ppm) to 90 ppm. Also, the general limit for lead in any accessible part of a children’s product was reduced from 600 ppm to 300 ppm.

The enforcement policy primarily addresses the third-party certification requirements applicable to products that are manufactured domestically or imported. Among the certification requirements:

• In general, certification of children’s products must be based on testing of samples of the final product, in the same condition as it would be in when sold to a consumer, or samples that are identical in all material respects.
• Any person who certifies a children’s product as complying with the 90 ppm lead paint limit should be able to trace each batch of paint that is used on the product to the paint manufacturer.
• As part of its basis for certification of a children’s product to the 300 ppm lead content limit, a domestic manufacturer or importer may rely on a test report showing passing test results for one or more components used on the product, based on testing commissioned from a recognized third-party test lab.

According to the interim enforcement policy, a domestic manufacturer or importer who certifies a children’s product as in compliance with lead limits based on component testing in accordance with the policy statement will not be subject to civil or criminal penalties for failure to certify or for false certification on the grounds of having certified to such limits without submitting samples of the final children’s product (i.e., the product in its entirety) for testing. A retailer or other seller of a product who holds a certificate based on component testing in accordance with the policy statement may rely on it to the same extent as if it had been based on testing of the final product. Any person who issues a false or misleading certificate for any paint or component is subject to penalties.

CPSC’s interim enforcement policy on component testing and certification of children’s products and other consumer products was published in the December 28, 2009, Federal Register.