BETHESDA, MD (BRAIN)—The third party testing requirement for children’s bikes went into effect on Monday while the industry awaits a decision on a petition to push back the deadline for a third time.
For now, all bikes marketed to kids 12 and under and manufactured after May 17 must be tested by an independent laboratory to verify compliance with the federal bicycle regulations. Adult bikes manufactured after that date don’t require third-party testing, but must be shipped with a certificate of compliance to the regulations, known as 16 CFR 1512.
The new requirements are part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, passed in August 2008.
The Bicycle Product Suppliers Association filed a petition with the Consumer Product Safety Commission on April 1 asking Monday’s deadline be extended by one year to allow time for more labs to gain the accreditation required by the CPSC to run tests.
The Commission has yet to make a decision on that request.
Currently, three lab companies have undergone the accreditation process to test for the 1512 requirements—Intertek’s facilities in Shanghai, Taiwan and Shenzhen, SGS’s labs in Taiwan and Shanghai and ACT Lab’s Taicang and El Segundo, California. However, according to the BPSA, none of those labs are certified yet to test for the reflectivity standards in 1512.
The CPSC has already extended the deadline twice; it was originally scheduled to go into effect in February 2009. All children’s helmets manufactured after Feb. 10 of this year must be tested by a third-party lab and labeled for verification. The third-party testing requirement for children’s products subject to new lead content limits has been extended until next year, although testing for lead in paint is required now.
—Nicole Formosa
nformosa@bicycleretailer.com.
