Children’s products label delay request not granted

Children’s products label delay request not granted    The effective date for compliance with the statutory requirement for tracking labels on all children’s products will remain Aug. 14 after an indecisive vote by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on a request for a delay, according to a notice from the trade law firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.
   The decision not to grant a delay means that effective Aug. 14 manufacturers of children’s products must place permanent distinguishing marks on those products and their packaging that enable the identification of the manufacturer or private labeler, the location and date of production, and certain other information.
   Children’s products are defined in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act as consumer goods designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger.
   'The National Association of Manufacturers and other associations through NAM’s CPSC Coalition had petitioned for an emergency stay of this effective date, but the CPSC’s 1-1 vote indicates that this request will not be granted,' the ST&R notice said. 'Relief is not likely through legislative action either, as the Obama administration has signaled by nominating two new CPSC commissioners and proposing a 71 percent increase in the commission’s budgetary authority that it prefers to resolve the various issues that have arisen with respect to the CPSIA through regulatory efforts rather than a legislative fix.'
   According to the law firm, industry members have expressed concern about how to comply with the tracking label requirement, but Commissioner Thomas Moore indicated that there will be a good deal of flexibility.
   Moore said the CSPC “does not contemplate mandating specific sizes or type fonts or a standard label that would be uniform.”