U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Commissioner Anne Northup Tours Intertek Shenzhen Toys and Hardlines Laboratory

10 Sep 2010

CPSC Commissioner Anne Northup and her delegation visited Intertek Shenzhen Toys and Hardlines Laboratory for a tour and briefing at the end of July. (Her delegation consisted of her personal staff, as well as officials from the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou). Our Country Head of South China and Hong Kong, Mr. Derek Cheng, and other senior management from Intertek offices in Hong Kong and South China also met with and briefed the Commissioner and her delegation.

This was the first time Commissioner Northup had toured a consumer product testing lab since becoming a Commissioner approximately a year ago, and she and her staff were quite attentive and had many questions.. The Commissioner was particularly interested in the effect the CPSIA was having on the toy and juvenile product industries with respect to testing costs and procedures. Mr. Cheng and others walked her through the process by which lab personnel analyze product samples and then work with our customers to determine an optimal testing plan, including for compliance with U.S. toy and other children’s products.

Mr. Cheng also provided a detailed briefing to the delegation on how Intertek incorporates lab operations and management procedures to ensure maximum customer responsiveness, efficiency and quality of testing and related services. The Commissioner and her delegation were then shown demonstrations of several toy and juvenile products tests, including the procedures used to determine compliance with the CPSC F-963 (toy), lead, phthalates and bicycle safety standards. Commissioner Northup provided positive feedback on the comprehensiveness of the Intertek presentation and on the lab’s capabilities.

After the tour and demonstrations, Commissioner Northup had an in-depth discussion with Mr. Cheng and other senior Intertek management, including a frank exchange of views and information about the impact of the CPSIA and the potential impact of new certification and other product safety testing regulations now under consideration at the CPSC.

All told, the visit by Commissioner and her delegation to the Intertek Shenzhen lab provided an excellent opportunity for a key CPSC policymaker to see firsthand the procedures and issues surrounding safety testing for consumer products bound for the U.S. And the opportunity also provided Intertek with the chance to demonstrate the capabilities and day-to-day issues faced by one of China’s premier testing labs.

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Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) Testing

Toy Testing