Challenge
In July 2011, the Washington Department of Ecology adopted Children’s Safe Product Act Reporting Rule, Chapter 173-334-WAC.  The rule is designed to collect information that will help government and the public better understand the presence of chemicals in children’s products. It requires manufacturers (including brand owners, importers) of children’s products to report the presence of Chemicals of High Concern to Children (CHCCs) to the Department of Ecology.

Scope of application
The rule applies to companies that make children’s products like toys, cosmetics, jewelry and baby products.  The first deadline for reporting is coming soon.  The largest manufacturers that make products intended to be put into  a children’s mouth or applied to the child’s body or skin, or any mouthable children’s products for children aged 3 and under, must report by 31 August 2012.

News
The Department of Ecology has ｃｒｅａｔｅd the web portal for the companies to report CHCC recently*. And, Ecology will also ｃｒｅａｔｅ a web portal to provide public access to the data after 31 August 2012, when the first reporting cycle is completed.

According to the implementation plan, Ecology will purchase products from various retailers, and submit them for laboratory analysis on the CHCCs.  The choice of which products to test will be informed by data reported by others in the same business sector, as well as complaints submitted to Ecology.

If the Ecology finds that a children’s product component contains a CHCC that the manufacturer either has not reported, or has reported at a lesser amount, the responsible party will be contacted and given 45 days to provide additional information. If the additional information provides an adequate justification for why there is a discrepancy, no further action will be taken by Ecology. If the submitted information is inadequate to explain the discrepancy, a formal enforcement action will be initiated. Failure to respond to the initial notice will automatically result in a formal enforcement action.

*  Reference: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/cspa/reporting.html.

The Solution
Intertek, through our extensive global network, has a variety of services available to help you overcome the challenges related to complying with product safety standards and regulations. Besides keeping you ｕｐｄａｔｅd on these and other new product safety developments, Intertek experts can assess your specific compliance and product testing needs and recommend ways to ensure that your products and process meet all the US and international requirements in the most effective and efficient way possible.