CPSC Proposes Stricter Safety Standards for Neck Floats, Including 3rd-Party Testing by Importers
The Consumer Product Safety Commission proposes to make the safety standard for aquatic toys such as neck floats more stringent "to address potentially deadly hazards associated with neck floats," it said in a notice of proposed rulemaking.
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CPSC plans to establish new performance and labeling requirements, as well as amend its list of notice of requirements to include neck floats. The proposed rule would also mandate ASTM F963 as a mandatory toy safety standard, compelling manufacturers and importers of neck floats "to meet performance, warning label, and instructional material requirements, and to conduct third party testing to demonstrate compliance."
As part of the proposed rulemaking process, CPSC also warned against stockpiling imports of neck floats ahead of finalizing the rule: "The Commission is proposing in § 1250.5(e) an anti-stockpiling provision to prevent firms from manufacturing or importing large quantities of noncompliant neck floats before the rule takes effect and seeks comment on this provision. Under this proposal, firms couldn't manufacture or import noncompliant products in a given month at more than a rate of 105 percent of the base period. The base period is the average monthly manufacturing or import volume within the last 13 months of production that immediately precedes the month of promulgation of the final rule."
Comments on the proposed rule, as well as comments on the marking, labeling and instructional literature requirements as they pertain to the Paperwork Reduction Act, are due by Jan. 21, 2025.
"The ASTM requirements are intended to communicate to the consumer that an aquatic toy is not a lifesaving device and to warn against leaving a child unattended while using the flotation device," CPSC said. The proposed rulemaking ultimately seeks to establish a mandatory standard for neck floats that would include performance requirements and improved warning labels.