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Magnets Business Guidance

The CPSC published a final rule in the Federal Register (87 FR 57756) that establishes a mandatory safety standard for magnets: Safety Standard for Magnets (16 CFR part 1262). The requirements apply to all subject magnet products manufactured after October 21, 2022. (Note, the effective date for the Notice of Requirements for this rule is December 20, 2022).

The final rule requires that, for any subject magnet product that contains a loose or separable magnet, every magnet that fits entirely within a small parts cylinder (see Figure 1 of 16 CFR § 1501.4) must have a flux index less than 50 kG2 mm2. Subject magnet products are consumer products “designed, marketed, or intended to be used for entertainment, jewelry (including children’s jewelry), mental stimulation, stress relief, or a combination of these purposes.” Excluded from the scope of this rule are products “sold and/or distributed solely to school educators, researchers, professionals, and/or commercial or industrial users exclusively for educational, research, professional, commercial, and/or industrial purposes.” Toys that are subject to the requirements of 16 CFR part 1250, which incorporates by reference ASTM F963, are exempt from the requirements in the magnet standard.

Testing for any subject magnet product must be conducted in accordance with the procedures outlined in sections 8.25.1 through 8.25.3 of ASTM F963. A read-only copy of ASTM F963 is available at ASTM’s Reading Room.

Certification

Section 14(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) requires manufacturers of consumer products subject to a regulation, standard, or ban enforced by the CPSC to certify that those products meet the requirements of the standard by issuing a certificate of compliance (Children’s Product Certificate or CPC for children’s products, General Certificate of Compliance or GCC for general-use products). For more information on certification, please visit our CPC business guidance page or GCC business guidance page.

Additional Information

Contact

For more information, please contact the Small Business Ombudsman (SBO) team:

Report an unsafe product