The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has published a Direct Final Rule (16 CFR 1250) to mandate of ASTM F963-16 Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety on February 2, 2017. This regulation shall become effective on 30 April 2017 and applies to all toys manufactured on or after that date.

According to 16 CFR 1250, toys shall comply with the provisions of ASTM F963-16. However, pursuant to section 106(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008, section 4.2 (Flammability)  and Annex 5 (Flammability Testing Procedure for Solids and Soft Toys) or any provision of ASTM F963 that restates or incorporates an existing mandatory standard or ban promulgated by the Commission or by statute or any provision that restates or incorporates a regulation promulgated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or any statute administered by the FDA are not mandatory.

The CPSC will accept testing to support product certifications for sections in ASTM F963-16 if the laboratory is already CPSC-accepted to those same sections in ASTM F963-11. Testing laboratories that conduct testing to support product certifications to ASTM F963-16 must show in their test reports “ASTM F963-16” and the specific section numbers in the standard to which the product was evaluated.

There are two new sections in ASTM F963-16, section 4.41 for Toy Chests and section 4.4 Expanding Materials. For the section 4.41 Toy Chests, CPSC will accept testing if the laboratory is already CPSC-accepted for ASTM F963-07e1, Section 4.27 for Toy Chests. For the section 4.40 Expanding Materials, CPSC will accept product testing for certification, if the testing laboratory is already CPSC-accepted for ASTM F963-11, section 4.6 for Small Parts and 4.24 for Squeeze Toys.

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