The Handmade Toy Alliance has therefore pulled together the flow chart below in order to provide businesses with straightforward information on what does or does not have to be tested under the law.

CPSIA Testing Requirements Flowchart

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Apparel/Textile

Danielle Elizabeth Designs tweeted a link to a picture of her tracking/care label.  Apparel is already required under other laws to have labels.  CPSIA tracking information can be added to existing labels; the tracking label does not have to be a separate label.

Barking Dog Designs has a two-label solution; one with the business name, the other with the care instructions and other info.  Pictures here and here.  Remember, the information on tracking labels does not all have to be physically in the same spot.  Barking Dog Designs also uses an RN number, which enables customers to look up the business name and location in the FTC’s database.

Challenge And Fun reports that one of their vendors uses small, ready-made size labels to indicate their batch numbers on fabric dolls.

Sue of Ecoleeko has a unique method.  She uses an inexpensive set of rubber stamps to ink her tracking info onto fabric tape, then heat-sets the ink.  If you’ve been considering hand-writing info on your tags, you should look at her idea; the results are very professional looking.

Yarn crafts (crochet, knit)

Curious Workmanship glues tracking labels printed on a laserjet to her hand-crocheted baby booties.  Description here; picture here.

Hair Bows

InfantBows is not using tracking labels, since small unlabelable items are not required to have labels.

Toys

Greco Woodcrafting has their tracking label info laser-etched onto their wooden toys, and recommends collaborating with local businesses if you can’t do an in-house labeling solution.

A business that wishes to remain anonymous stamps their info onto wooden toys using permanent inks.

Books and paper goods

Lunasea Studios incorporated their tracking info into the copyright page of their Little Vampires books.

Hilary of Blynken and Nod has to hand-write her info onto her scavenger hunt card sets, but makes it look more professional by also signing and numbering each set.

Companies that make labels in small quantity, that have been recommended by small businesses:

Namemaker

Custom Couture Label Company

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However, an item that is made out of yarn may need some third party testing.  If the yarn undergoes any kind of process that could introduce lead into it, it will need to be tested after that process.  Also, many yarn-based items such as sweaters contain non-yarn components, such as buttons.  If the buttons are not made of an exempt material such as wood or bone, they will need to be tested.

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• the name of the manufacturer or private labeler
• the location of production (city, state/province, and country)
• the date of production OR a mark, such as a batch number or cohort number, that you can use to look up the date of production.

CPSC’s tracking label guidance tells us about tracking labels:

• they must be “permanent”
• they must be on the packaging and the product “to the extent practicable”
• they must have “marks” (i.e. letters, numbers, or signs) that allow the manufacturer to discern what batch the item belongs to and look up the origins of the materials
• the manufacturer must maintain a way to look up the origins of the materials based on the mark, e.g. a spreadsheet or database
• the information need not be all in one spot on the product, as long as it’s all on the product somewhere
• if the label on the product can be seen through the packaging, there is no need to also label the packaging
• the requirement is NOT RETROACTIVE, meaning that anything manufactured before August 14 DOES NOT have to be labeled

Certain products are exempt from labeling. If your product has more than one piece, not all pieces must be labeled.

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You do not have to put the date of production on your product if you use a batch number that you can use to look up the date of production in your own spreadsheet or database.  In this case, the batch number functions as a “mark” that makes the date “ascertainable.”

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• Only one piece of a set has to be labeled if the pieces are not sold separately
• The date of assembly of all the pieces together is the date of manufacture
• Don’t forget to also label the packaging of these items if the packaging is meant to be thrown away (if the packaging is not meant to be thrown away, it’s considered part of the item and you can label just the packaging)

Examples:

• A set of blocks that comes in a fabric bag can have the label on the fabric bag only
• Beads that come in a disposable plastic bag can have the label on the plastic bag
• A pair of shoes needs the label on only one of the shoes
• A board game can have the label on the box (outside packaging) and on the board, but does not need to have each piece labeled
• A craft kit needs a label on the outside packaging and a label on one “integral part”

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What products are exempt from labeling on the product (but still must be labeled on the packaging)?

• products too small to label, e.g. earrings
• products that come with packaging that is meant to be used for storage, e.g. blocks that come in a fabric bag; in this case the bag must be labeled but the blocks do not
• multiple tiny items such as bags of beads or marbles
• bulk vending toys
• products where a physical mark would weaken the product or make it useless
• products with surfaces that are impossible to mark permanently, e.g. hair ornaments (these are specifically mentioned in the CPSC document), pipe cleaners, natural rocks
• products whose aesthetics would be ruined by a mark
• products where a mark cannot be placed in an “accessible but inconspicuous location”
• products that are exempt from labeling under other laws because those laws have determined them to be unlabelable, e.g. socks

Unfortunately, as yet we have no guidance as to who will be permitted to decide whether the aesthetics of a product would be ruined by a mark.  There is nothing in the CPSC guidance or in CPSIA to indicate that the artisan/artist/crafter or even the customer would be the judge of the product’s aesthetics, rather than attorneys or CPSC staff.

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A label that can be removed by defacing the product is still considered “permanent” if it wouldn’t come off during ordinary use.  Clothing labels are considered “reasonably expected” to remain on the clothing because they don’t fall off by themselves; the fact that people sometimes cut them out or accidentally rip the seams they’re sewn into is immaterial.

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This means, for example, that silkscreen t-shirts meant to be worn as clothing, not part of a sleepwear set, for children of all ages do not fall under the phthalate testing requirement.

For more information, please refer to the CPSIA Section 108.

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