UPDATED STATUS (September 6, 2024):
Bureau Veritas has developed a set of testing protcols to meet the required PA standards.
You can contact Shenal Edirisinghe (shenal.edirisinghe@bureauveritas.com) for information on the testing.
The labs in Asia will be charging around $250-$300 for the testing.
UPDATED STATUS (August 30, 2024):
After discussing the requirements with the PA office, we have concluded that the process of toy registration for toys that are NOT using recylced stuffing materials has only changed to include a new lab test.
If a toy product is using recycled stuffing materials, then there will some big issues with labels.
We currently recommend that no toys use recycled stuffing material until the label issues can be resolved.
The lab test requirements are to meet the standards shown in §47.317, §47.321 and §47.322 of the Stuffed Toy Regulations here: https://www.dli.pa.gov/Individuals/Labor-Management-Relations/bois/Pages/Stuffed-Toys-Regulations.aspx
We are working with a global lab now to create a test protocol and get pricing and will post that information very soon.
Here is a direct link to the new PA law:
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2024/0/0030..HTM?97
CURRENT STATUS (August 27, 2024):
The Pennsylvania laws have been updated to now allow the use of the term "Recycled" on the labels of stuffed toys.
Unfortunately, this new law has created a huge problem as using the term "Recycled" is not allowed by the Ohio or Massachusetts laws.
This is all new information and we are still working on getting a proper solution that will be legal and compliant for everyone.
This only affect stuffed toy products. It does not affect bedding/upholstered products.
On August 26, 2024, the PA emailed the major companies involved with law label registration and said this statement below (Bold print added by us for important items):
As you may already know, the Pennsylvania Legislature, under the PA Stuffed Toy Manufacturing Act of June 28, 2024 (P.L. 417, No.30), approved changes for the Stuffed Toy Division on June 28, 2024. This affects application submission requirements for Manufacturers, Importers, and Craftspersons of stuffed toys sold in PA that contain either New or Recycled material. As of August 27, 2024, all submitted applications postmarked on that day or after must include an attestation that no child labor, forced labor, or slave labor was used at any point in the process of manufacturing stuffed toy products, as well as a Flammability and Tolerance Lab Report from a Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) certified testing lab or United States based testing lab that shows the product meets the safety standards outlined in Sections §47.317, §47.321 and §47.322 of the Stuffed Toy Regulations. Our application form is being updated to display these new requirements and will be posted on our website at www.dli.pa.gov/toys along with the updated Act and Frequently Asked Questions, which we will be updating with information about the Act. For any received applications postmarked on or after the 27th that doesn’t include these requirements, our office will contact the customer to obtain the necessary information/documentation.
Additionally, it is still a requirement that a holder of an existing PA Registration number submits to our office, within 15 days of manufacture, the new or altered toy being manufactured. With that sample(s), the customer is now also required to submit an application, which would include the application form, a copy of the valid PA certificate, the Notarized Affidavit, a Flammability and Tolerance Lab Report, and the appropriate fee to our office. Once the new application is approved, the manufacturer will be informed they can use their existing PA Registration number on the new/altered toy. Therefore, if the holder of any existing PA Registration number, chooses to use recycled material in their toy product, they must apply to our office and receive approval to sell that toy in PA, since all prior applications were for product containing only new material.
With regards to the label on the toy, Section 9.1 of the Act now provides the requirements that the “form, design, color or size of the label is left to the discretion of the manufacturer or importer. The information required on the label shall be clearly legible and in sufficient size type so that it may be readily discerned.” The label must include the registration number assigned by the Commonwealth, preceded by “REG. NO. PA”, and must include a “statement that the type of material used in the manufacture of the stuffed toy is new, recycled or a mix of new and recycled materials.” The Act defines the term NEW as “any article or material which has not been subjected to a previous manufacturing process, or which has not been previously used for any purpose” and RECYCLED as “any material that has been reprocessed from reclaimed material by means of a manufacturing process and made into a final product or into a component for incorporation into a final product.” The label information must be true and accurate; so, if a customer uses recycled material in their product, they CANNOT state “All New Material” on their label. We understand that this will cause product sold in PA to bear a different label than product sold in Ohio and Massachusetts.
For enforcement purposes, we understand that there will be a transition for manufacturers to comply and that there is bound to already be product on PA shelves that are not compliant with this Act. Therefore, for the short term, we will issuing warnings to customers and allowing them a few months to correct their product before we move to issuing violations for non-compliant product/labels. However, with the Act going into effect now, they should begin to correct their product so as to avoid future violations.
If you or your customers have any additional questions regarding the updated Act that are not covered in our FAQs, please contact our office at BUTOYS@pa.gov.
If you have any questions about this, please contact us at info@lawlabel.com or call 1-614-543-0479.
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