CPSC CHILDREN’S PRODUCT COMPLIANCE
Children's product compliance problem?
A rejected Children’s Product Certificate (CPC). A detained shipment. A listing removed overnight. Or a CPSC letter about a product you have sold for years.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) imposes a strict compliance framework on every product designed or intended primarily for children 12 and under — from toys and clothing to furniture, nursery products, and juvenile products. Neal Cohen Law helps manufacturers, retailers, and importers understand, design, build, and source children’s products that are in compliance with these important product safety requirements — and to do so before a CPSC investigation makes it urgent.
We are former CPSC attorneys who represent manufacturers, importers, retailers, and marketplace sellers with new product development, warnings and instructions, testing and certification, compliance programs, import detentions, seizures, and other CPSC enforcement actions, including recalls.
WHY FORMER CPSC LAWYERS
Why It Matters Who Reads Your File
Neal Cohen was the CPSC’s Small Business Ombudsman and Chief Counsel to the Director of the Office of Compliance. Boaz Green was Chief Counsel to a CPSC Commissioner. Stephen Lee was a CPSC Compliance Officer handling regulated products for years.
We focus on CPSC, and children’s product rules are among the most technical and highly enforced aspects of CPSC compliance.
New product development, evaluating regulatory requirements, warnings and instructions, and ongoing compliance support on one end - and addressing product detentions, Notices of Violation, section 15(b) demands, and civil penalty defense on the other.
Which Children’s Product Compliance Problem Do You Have?
Children’s product compliance is the legal framework governing how products designed or intended primarily for children 12 and under are classified, tested, certified, labeled, imported and sold in the United States.
CPSC and Customs are holding the entry.
Was this a technical issue, like a typo or an oversight, or do you potentially have a substantive non-compliance issue to address?
Reinstatement usually requires resolving the compliance question, which often revolves around "gray area" interpretations where we can help.
A Notice of Violation, or a section 15(b) inquiry. Each has its own due date. Responsiveness and accuracy are key to establishing credibility with CPSC.
A new supplier, material, factory or packaging may mean the product is no longer compliant, or that your documentation is out of date or inaccurate.
We guide you through addressing issues in the design phase, product classification, regulatory assessment, testing, certification, warnings, labels and instructions, as well as post-market monitoring.
It's critical to carefully consider the consequences of each move you make before you respond to the CPSC. This is where having a seasoned advisor makes sense. Neal Cohen Law engages every day with the CPSC and understands the art of the possible in reaching a reasonable outcome in your company's best interest.
A Children's Product Compliance Problem Rarely Stays a Paperwork Problem
An issue exists.
Often unnoticed at first. Is the issue a product defect? Does this issue give rise to a safety concern?
It hits a chokepoint.
The border, a retailer review, a marketplace flag, a SaferProducts.gov notice or a consumer complaint.
Sales stop.
Entries are held, listings come down, and revenue loss begins immediately, often before anyone can determine what, if anything, went wrong.
An investigation begins.
Questions reach past the shipment into the rest of your catalog, potentially broadening your exposure.
A reporting obligation opens.
Facts developed in the investigation may trigger a legal duty to self-report a product to the CPSC for possible safety or compliance issues.
It becomes a potential recall
CPSC may press for a recall, or you may decide a recall is warranted.
Early involvement is key to containing a children’s product compliance issue.
Acceptance is granted per rule, not per laboratory. A lab accepted for ASTM F963 mechanical testing may not be accepted for lead and phthalate analysis. CPSC sometimes delists labs, so make sure your lab is still accepted.
The CPC is often the first document reviewed by CPSC staff and the first place children's product compliance comes apart. CPCs must be maintained and made immediately available upon request. For imported products, certificate data must be electronically filed.
Permanent marks on product, if practicable, and packaging identifying the manufacturer, batch or lot, and date and place of production are required. Durable infant and toddler products have additional labeling requirements and require registration forms. All of this labeling limits future risk in the event of a safety issue or recall.
Children's products that are continuously manufactured need to be retested even if no change is made to the manufacturing process. In addition, a new supplier, material, process, package or factory will require that the product be retested.
Lead in substrate and surface coatings, small part ban, phthalates, ASTM F963, and dozens of other product-specific standards exist for children's products. Ignorance of the requirements is no excuse. Build a team that can advise you properly on these requirements.
California Proposition 65 warnings, enforced by private plaintiffs, plus Washington's Children's Safe Products Act and similar requirements in Maine, Oregon, Vermont, Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland and Connecticut. Federal compliance is not always enough.
eFiling Changed How the Government Sees Your Children's Product Compliance
How We Handle Children's Product Compliance
Identify the actual problem.
A detained entry, a defective certificate, a classification dispute and a real product defect require different strategies.
Audit the program.
Classification, certificate elements, laboratory acceptance for each rule cited, testing intervals and material change controls.
Engage CPSC staff directly.
We can handle detentions, Notices of Violation, information requests and civil penalty investigations.
Analyze reporting under privilege.
Where the facts raise a section 15(b) question, that analysis is legal work, not a compliance department decision.
Rebuild the record.
So the next entry, audit, or inquiry finds a children's product compliance file that helps you rather than one that has to be explained.
Fixing it early is always cheaper. Fixing it late is public, expensive, and disruptive.
We help you find and address the real problem early.
Children's Product Compliance Questions Manufacturers and Importers Ask
Is my product even a children's product?
A children’s product is any consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 and under, which can include clothing, footwear, school supplies, juvenile furniture, sleep products, feeding accessories, bath products and sports equipment.
In determining what is a children’s product, the CPSC factors in the stated intended use, labeling, marketing, common recognition, and CPSC’s Age Determination Guidelines. For example, small sizing of a product that would make the product uncomfortable for average adults could mean the product is a children’s product, as would exaggerated features (large buttons, bright indicators) that simplify the product’s use, safety features that are not found on similar products intended for adults, colors commonly associated with childhood (pinks, blues, bright primary colors), decorative motifs commonly associated with childhood (such as animals, insects, small vehicles, alphabets, dolls, clowns, and puppets), and other features, like cartoons, which do not necessarily enhance the product’s utility but contribute to its attractiveness to children 12 years of age or younger.
A product marketed to all ages can still be considered a children’s product, and a general use product can be converted into one by decoration, like screen printing, or marketing.
We have used the same CPC template for years and never had a problem. Is it still valid?
Probably not. CPC templates built before the revised 16 CFR part 1110 eFiling rule took effect on July 8, 2026, commonly lack the unique product identifier, the expanded contact and email fields, the separate listing of every applicable rule, and the attestation language. In addition, information must be updated at least once a year on your CPCs. A template that was previously compliant for years is likely no longer compliant now.
Does the current certificate rule apply to products I manufacture in the United States?
Yes. The revised content requirements took effect July 8, 2026, for domestically manufactured products as well as imports. Domestic manufacturers do not eFile at entry, because there is no entry, but the certificate itself must meet the current requirements including the attestation.
Can we rely on test reports from our overseas factory?
Often yes, as long as certain conditions are met, and testing does not have to happen in the United States. But the certifying party remains legally responsible, and the CPSC’s position is that an importer cannot simply pass along a foreign manufacturer’s certificate. Due care means confirming the laboratory was CPSC-accepted for the specific rule cited, that the correct test methods were used, and that the item tested matches the item actually sold.
We market to all ages. Are we in scope?
Possibly. Intent is judged by design, function, packaging imagery, marketing, retail placement and foreseeable use, and against the CPSC’s Age Determination Guidelines.
Each product and situation is distinct and requires a full analysis of the product, its intended use, marketing, etc. in order to provide you with reliable guidance to help ensure compliance with CPSC’s requirements.
How often do we actually have to retest?
It depends. Once tested and certified, each shipment does not necessarily need to be retested.
However, any time there is a material change to a product, it must be retested regardless of the periodic testing cycle. This could be a change in factory, component part, or even a process change in production.
Children’s products that are produced over multiple production runs in a single year without any material changes are still subject to a periodic testing requirement. In almost all cases, this means that annual retesting is required. (Depending on the testing and production controls you have in place, the permitted testing interval may also be two or three years, with special guidance.)
What counts as a material change, exactly?
A material change could be any change to raw components, suppliers, manufacturing processes, packaging or factory location, or even product design that could affect compliance.
We are a small company. Does the small batch exemption cover us?
It depends. Qualifying and registered small batch manufacturers are provided certain testing relief (but no relief from certification and eFiling requirements). The relief provided by the CPSC is, however, very narrow and often not helpful to many small businesses.
The CPSC adjusts the revenue threshold periodically. For calendar year 2026 registration, prior-year gross revenue across affiliated entities must be $1,480,296 or less from all consumer products, with no more than 7,500 units of the qualifying product manufactured in the prior year. Registration is annual. Small batch manufacturers still must conduct third party testing to several mandatory standards, the products must still comply with the mandatory rule, and CPCs must still be generated.
Importers that meet the two criteria above may still rely on the relief for small batch manufacturers; however, they must ensure that the foreign manufacturer also meets the criteria (although the foreign manufacturer does not need to register.)
And don’t forget to eFile if you are importing!
Does CPSIA compliance mean we are compliant with Proposition 65?
No. The two regimes operate independently. A product meeting the federal 100 ppm lead in substrate limit can still trigger a Proposition 65 (Prop 65) warning obligation. Prop 65 may not require testing at a third-party laboratory like CPSIA, although it may be a good idea to still do so. Contact us for additional help understanding the nuances of the similarities and differences between CPSIA compliance and Prop 65 compliance.
When should a compliance consultant bring in legal counsel?
Consultants coordinate testing, manage laboratories and prepare certificates, and a good one is worth keeping. Counsel should come in on a CPSC inquiry, a potential Section 15(b) reporting obligation, a civil penalty investigation, a disputed classification, or any internal review that should be conducted under attorney-client privilege.
When should children's product compliance review begin?
Compliance planning should always begin as soon as possible and before final design, tooling, packaging or production. Classification, component selection, applicable standards, warning labels and other markings, and test planning all affect compliance. Resolving these concerns early in the design stage, before manufacture, is faster and cheaper than retesting, relabeling or unwinding an entry after the container is on the water.
Do children’s products need tracking labels?
Yes, all children’s products must have tracking labels on the product, if practicable, and the packaging. The tracking information must allow the manufacturer and consumer to identify (i) the manufacturer or private labeler, (ii) the location and date of production, and (iii) cohort information such as a batch, run number, or other identifying characteristic.
While you do not need to “test” your products for the presence of tracking labels, many retailers require third-party test laboratories to validate that tracking labels are present.
The CPSC enforces the tracking label requirement at the ports. Since no special testing is required, it is very easy for the CPSC to find products missing tracking labels and to issue the importer a Notice of Violation which can lead to seizure. This is a simple problem to avoid and often very costly to address after the fact.
Rarely Stays a Paperwork Problem
Whether your shipment is detained, your certificate has been questioned, a listing came down, or you are trying to prevent the next problem, the next step should be based on the actual issue. Speak with former CPSC counsel first.