Everything you need to know about CPSIA for children's clothing

First Published: April 2022

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) is a landmark product safety law that regulates all children’s products, including children’s clothing, sold in the United States.  

Enacted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in 2008, it provided the CPSC with significant new regulatory and enforcement tools to address the safety of products manufactured for children 12-years-old or younger.

Which products are covered by CPSIA?

A wide range of products intended for 12-year-old or younger is covered in CPSIA, including: 

• Textiles/garments, including childrenswear 
• Footwear 
• Home furnishing, including bedding and soft goods 
• Toys 
• School supplies 
• And more 

What are my obligations?

The CPSIA generally requires that textiles, garments and footwear for children: 

Comply with all applicable standards and children’s product safety rules, including, among others, 16 CFR Part 1610, 16 CFR Part 1615/6 and 16 CFR Part 1307.  
Are tested for compliance by a third-party CPSC-accepted laboratory and are in possession of a test report.

Have a written Children’s Product Certificate that certifies that the children's product is compliant with all applicable children's product safety rules, based upon the passing test results of third-party testing.   
Have permanent tracking information affixed to the product and packaging where possible.

The CPSIA also requires that importers and domestic manufacturers of non-children’s products issue a General Certificate of Conformity (GCC). This applies to products subject to any consumer product safety rule, CPSC standard or regulation enforced by the Commission. A full list can be found here. 

What should be included in the Children’s Product Certificate? 

As a self-issued document, the CPC should contain information including:  

• The children’s clothing product name and description 
• A list of applied and mandatory CPSC safety rules 
• Where applicable, importer information (including name, address, email address and phone number). Domestic manufacturers also need to provide the same information. 
• Contact information for the person with has access to the test report  
• The location and date of manufacturing  
• Testing date and location  
• Details of the CPSC-accepted third-party lab testing company  

Is a tracking label required?

When importing childrenswear, you must prepare a CPSIA tracking label, detailing the name of the importer, where and when the item was produced and the product batch number.  

You may also be expected to provide a label file, which contains information on the print position, dimension, colours and the print type.  

Penalties for non-compliance

Failure to comply with CPSIA requirements could lead to product recalls, civil and criminal penalties. 

The maximum civil penalty for each violation of the CPSIA is $100,000 and $15 million for a series of connected violations. Criminal penalties may include a maximum of five years in prison and forfeiture of assets. 

How can Eurofins Softlines & Hardlines help?

As CPSC-accredited laboratories, the Eurofins Softlines & Hardlines network of laboratories can help buyers and suppliers of children products to ensure CPSIA compliance in the United States. from textile and footwear testing, risk assessment, labelling review to fault analysis.

Learn more about our CPSIA Testing Services or get in touch today.