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The mission of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is to protect the public against unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products. In furtherance of its mission, CPSC administers and enforces a number of laws, listed below, including the Consumer Product Safety Act. CPSC also publishes regulations to implement the laws it administers and enforces. Those regulations, as well as active matters in the rulemaking process, are listed below. Lastly, linked below are ongoing and past activities with voluntary standards organizations.
Statutes
CPSC administers and enforces several federal laws. These laws authorize the agency to protect the public against unreasonable risks of injuries and deaths associated with consumer products.
Regulations, Mandatory Standards & Bans
CPSC publishes regulations to implement the laws it administers and enforces. These regulations specify the requirements that apply to individuals, businesses, and others.
Rulemaking
Your comments are very important in helping the Commission to understand how the proposed regulation may affect you and others if the regulation is adopted by the Commission. We encourage you to get involved and participate.
Voluntary Standards
Even if there is no mandatory standard for a particular product, there may be voluntary standards or certification information that apply to the product type. The agency staff participates in the development of voluntary standards.
Advisory Opinions
The Office of the General Counsel’s advisory opinions explain CPSC laws.
Products Not Under CPSC Jurisdiction
CPSC regulates thousands of consumer products. Often, it is easier to say what we don’t regulate.
Laws Important Links
Regulations Important Links
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Enacted in 1972, CPSA is our umbrella statute. This law established the agency, defines CPSC’s basic authority and authorizes the agency to develop standards and bans. It also gives CPSC the authority to pursue recalls and to ban products under certain circumstances.
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This law amended CPSA in 2008 to provide CPSC with significant new regulatory and enforcement tools. CPSIA addresses, among other things, lead, phthalates, toy safety, third-party testing and certification, imports, ATVs, civil and criminal penalties and SaferProducts.gov. It repeals a funding limitation on the number of CPSC commissioners.
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Public Law 112-28 amended the CPSIA in 2011 to provide CPSC with greater authority and discretion in enforcing current consumer product safety laws. Public Law 112-28 addresses lead content limits and exceptions from these limits, third-party testing and certification and issues related to small batch manufacturers. |
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The Children’s Gasoline Burn Prevention Act requires portable gasoline containers manufactured for sale in the United States on or after January 17, 2009, to conform to safety requirements for child resistant packaging.
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The FHSA requires certain hazardous household products to have warning labels. It also gives CPSC the authority to regulate or ban a hazardous substance, and toys or other articles intended for use by children, under certain circumstances to protect the public. Examples of products regulated under this law include electrically operated toys, cribs, rattles, pacifiers, bicycles, and children’s bunk beds.
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The CSPA amends certain provisions of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act to better protect small children from choking hazards. The CSPA requires warning labels on specific products and mandates that manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers report certain choking incidents.
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The FFA regulates the manufacture of highly flammable clothing and interior furnishings. Under FFA, CPSC can and has issued standards. Some examples of standards that have been established are for clothing textiles, vinyl plastic film used in clothes, carpets and rugs, children’s sleepwear, mattresses and mattress pads.
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LHAMA amends the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, designating the ASTM Standard Practice for Labeling Art Materials for Chronic Health Hazards as a regulation under the Act. It requires a review of all art materials to determine the potential for causing a chronic hazard. Art materials that are found to pose a chronic hazard must bear a warning label.
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The PPPA requires a number of household substances to be packaged in child-resistant packaging. |
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The Refrigerator Safety Act requires refrigerators to have a mechanism (usually a magnetic latch) that enables the refrigerator door to be opened from the inside in the event of accidental entrapment.
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This act establishes a federal swimming pool and spa drain cover standard that requires public pools to be equipped with compliant anti-entrapment drain covers and, in certain instances, with additional devices or suction entrapment prevention systems.
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The CNPPA requires any nicotine provided in a liquid nicotine container sold, offered for sale, manufactured for sale, distributed in commerce, or imported into the United States to be in “special packaging” as defined by the PPPA and in accordance with the Commission’s regulations at 16 C.F.R. §§ 1700.15 and 1700.20.
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The DSA requires that drywall manufactured or imported for use in the United States meet the labeling provisions in ASTM C1264-11, “Standard Specification for Sampling, Inspection, Rejection, Certification, Packaging, Marking, Shipping, Handling, and Storage of Gypsum Panel Products.” In addition, as directed by the DSA, the Commission made certain determinations regarding ASTM C1396-14a, “Standard Specification for Gypsum Board.” Based on those determinations, drywall manufactured or imported for use in the United States on or after July 22, 2015 must comply with the limitations on sulfur content in ASTM C1396-14a, “Standard Specification for Gypsum Board.”
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The Sturdy Act (Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth Act) requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate a consumer product safety rule for free-standing clothing storage units to protect children from tip-over related death or injury, and for other purposes. |