Dear Customer
On Monday, February 2, 2009, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) stayed the testing and certification requirements of the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) applicable to children’s books. As a result, book manufacturers are not required under the CPSIA to provide general conformity certifications (GCC) for children’s products.
However, the stay does not apply to the lead and phthalate limits imposed by the CPSIA. All children’s books we manufacture for you will still need to comply with the new limits imposed by the CPSIA, however do not require GCCs according to the stay.
As you may know, a task force of leading book manufacturers, publishers, and trade associations lead by the American Association of Publishers has been lobbying for an exemption for books from the CPSIA requirements. As part of the stay, the CPSC acknowledged that the stay would permit groups like book publishers to provide the data necessary to obtain a permanent exemption.
Regardless, we understand that you want some assurances that the children’s books we manufacture are compliant with the CPSIA. We have conducted representative tests to confirm that children’s books we manufacture are compliant with the CPSIA. In addition, we have reviewed documentation from other manufacturers of children’s books and many other industry sources as to compliance with the new CPSIA standards for lead content and phthalate content. All evidence we have reviewed indicates that the inks, paper, adhesives, laminates, coatings and other materials found in children’s books contain either no lead or phthalates whatsoever or only minimal amounts far below the CPSIA limits.
Based on this evidence, we are confident that the children’s books we manufacture for you are safe. In addition, please understand that despite the stay, we intend to continue with our internal testing program going forward to confirm compliance with the CPSIA.
We hope that you will be satisfied with the safety of our children’s products and will be patient as the industry task force lobbies for an exemption for children’s books.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
