Tracking Labels: What does “to the extent practicable” mean?
CPSC’s tracking label guidance indicates that certain products are exempt from labeling because it is not “practicable” to label them. Products that cannot be labeled must still have the manufacturer’s name, city, state, and country, plus any cohort or batch info, somewhere on the product’s packaging. (This information need not be all in the same spot on the packaging.)
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.
