CHICAGO, IL (BRAIN)—The Bicycle Product Suppliers Association will hold a special meeting on Monday to address industry concerns regarding the Nov. 12 deadline to comply with new consumer product safety regulations.
The discussion is meant to be a precursor to a pending meeting between a small group from the BPSA and senior compliance staff with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which oversees the law.
Monday’s 10 a.m. meeting will be held at SRAM’s headquarters in Chicago, and is open to all BPSA members. The group will consider issues in the law specific to the bike industry and more general issues including paper versus electronic certificates, what constitutes a reasonable testing program and the lead paint testing deadline.
The law says that all products intended for children 12 and younger manufactured after Nov. 12 must be accompanied by a certificate of compliance upon entry into the country. Manufacturers also must have a reasonable testing program in place by this time, although third party testing isn’t required until Dec. 21.
Points of discussion will also revolve around specific bike-related questions raised by the industry in recent weeks such as when a bicycle product requires a certificate of compliance, whether an imported frame or partially assembled bike will require a certificate, and the lead content of Schraeder valves and spoke nipples.
Other questions pertain to the CPSC’s bicycle regulations for pedals, handlebars and headsets and whether certain products comply with the standards.
The concerns raised at Monday’s meeting will be passed along to the CPSC in a meeting the BPSA is attempting to arrange also in November with CPSC compliance staff. That meeting would be attended by a small industry group with representation from the IBD bike supplier, the mass market bike supplier, component company, parts and accessories distributor and a third party testing company.
For more information on attending Monday’s meeting, contact the BPSA’s Maureen Waddington at Maureen.waddington@comcast.net.
