U.S. – ASTM Publishes Revised Toy Safety Standard – F963-17

Vol. 985 | 05 Sep 2017

On August 24, 2017, ASTM International published revised toy safety standard F963-17. The majority of the revisions were editorial to provide clarification of the requirements. There was a substantive revision to the requirements for projectile toys, clarifying that for the stored energy projectiles the Kinetic energy density (KED) requirement only applies to the projectiles that have kinetic energy greater than 0.08 Joules (J).

In accordance with section 106(g) of Public Law 110-314, Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), once ASTM International notifies the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the CPSC has up to 90 days to review and respond to the revisions, and accept or reject revisions in part or whole. If the CPSC does not respond within 90 days or accept the revisions, the revised standard (F963-17) will become a mandatory toy safety standard effective 180 days after notification. The requirements are prospective, so the certification (Children’s Product Certificate) of toys manufactured on and after the effective date, 180 days from notification date, will be required to be based on the F963-17 testing at a CPSC-approved laboratory. ASTM international officially notified the CPSC regarding publication of revised ASTM F963-17 standard on September 1, 2017. Following is the timeline:

• September 1, 2017 – CPSC  notified by ASTM International of revised standard publication
• November 30, 2017 – Deadline for the CPSC to accept/reject all or parts of the revisions
• February 28, 2018 – ASTM F963-17 becomes mandatory toy safety standard, unless CPSC rejects revision by November 30, 2017

Following is a summary of key revisions:

• Projectile toys – clarification that for the stored energy projectiles the KED requirement only applies to the projectiles that have kinetic energy greater than 0.08 J
• Clarified that the cosmetics intended to be applied to a toy are not subject to the Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act (FDCA) labeling requirements
• Clarified in the acoustics requirements that the requirements for floor and tabletop toys do not apply to push/pull toys
• Simplified the definition for a low-power circuit by defining it as the one using an effective battery power source that is not capable of delivering more than 8 amperes (A) into any variable resistor load for more than one minute. The definition removed the additional criteria that the power of the source does not exceed 15 watts (W) at the end of 5 seconds
• Added reference for the cosmetics requirements for the bacteriological standard for USP purified water: USP 35<1231>, and for the EPA standard for drinking water: 40 CFR 141.63
• Deleted definition of the “driving mechanism” as the term is not used in the standard
• Revise language through numerous sections of the standard from “must” to “shall” emphasizing the mandatory nature of the requirements

Until the revised toy safety standard, F963-17, is accepted by the CPSC and becomes the mandatory toy safety standard, the testing and certification of the toys manufactured shall be based on the current mandatory toy safety standard ASTM F963-16.

A copy of F963-17 standard can be purchased from ASTM http://www.astm.org/Standards/F963.htm

For questions, please contact Dr. Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com, +1-847-212-8273) or Laxmi Ravikumar (laxmi.ravikumar@intertek.com, +1-630-209-9265).