CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND RETAIL E-SSENTIALS

USA: CPSC publishes direct final rule for children’s folding chairs and folding stools

MAY 2021 - TOYS AND CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS

On 17 May 2021, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a direct final rule¹ revising CPSC's mandatory standard for children's folding chairs and folding stools to incorporate by referencing the most recent version of the applicable ASTM standard F2613-21² cited under 16 CFR Part 1232. The final rule is retitled to indicate clearly that non-folding stools fall outside the scope of the mandatory standard, and will become effective on 21 August 2021.

ASTM published the previous version of the ASTM F2613 standard in December 2019. It was then revised to ASTM F2613-21 in February 2021 and notified the Commission about the revision. On 11 May 2021, the Commission voted unanimously to approve the publication of a Federal Register notice.

ASTM F2613-21 included one substantive change to the standard by updating the definition of “stools” in the standard to include ottomans and two non-substantive changes as follows:

• Clarification to the standard’s scope that infant/toddler rockers are not included, because infant/toddler rockers are subject to a different voluntary standard, ASTM F3084-20³ Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Infant and Infant/Toddler Rockers.
• Removal of a previous version of a locking test method. The F2613-21 standard contains similar test methods to the current latching and locking test method as the previous locking test method in ASTM F2613-19, which was inadvertently retained in the test method section of the standard that was unused.

[1] Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 93

[2] ASTM F2613-21

[3] ASTM F3084-20