BETHESDA, MD (BRAIN)—Children’s bicycles and accessories manufactured after Friday must be shipped with a tracking label in order to make the product’s origin more apparent to consumers, according to a standard in the Consumer Product Safety Information Act.
The tracking label law requires—to the extent practicable—the placement of permanent, distinguishing marks on packaging of children’s products. The label must contain certain basic information like the source of the product, the date of manufacture and more detailed information, such as a batch or run number.
Matt Moore, chair of the BPSA’s legislative committee and general counsel for QBP, said that manufacturers of children’s bikes that use a serial number conforming to ASTM standards are already essentially complying with the new rule because that serial number includes the information required on the tracking label.
The only step those manufacturers need to add is to find a way to inform retailers and consumers on how to determine the manufacture date from that coded serial number.
“I think this has been a lot easier for manufacturers to deal with because it’s not like you need to change the material you’re using, you’re not waiting for an outside test lab to send you results,” Moore said. “This is something in the manufacturing process that you can control. It’s not that dissimilar from putting a manufacturer part number on there or other kind of brand specific information. I think it’s a change that most manufacturers and suppliers are a lot more able to deal with and get their arms around.”
Moore said the BPSA has notified its members of the tracking label law and advised them to communicate with their dealers about the changes.
The industry continues to wrestle with the portion of the CPSIA that eventually limits the amount of lead in children’s products to 100 parts per million. Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission granted the bike industry a two-year stay of enforcement on the lead rule, suppliers that want to take advantage of that stay need to submit a report to the Commission by the end of the month outlining what products don’t comply with the new lead standards, what their plans are to change those products and what the scientific basis is to use a material that includes lead for a particular component.
The Commission will use this information to gain a better understanding of the market, and how feasible it is for bike component suppliers to eliminate lead from the manufacturing process.
The BPSA has asked the Commission to extend the deadline for the reports to Oct. 9.
—Nicole Formosa
