Everything You Need to Know About Importing Toys into the USA

As consumer goods, in addition to providing children with a pleasant and exciting play experience, children’s toys must also have safety guarantees. Safety issues run through every link of toy production, but in order to ensure its quality, it has always troubled European and American importers. In order to maintain the safety of infants and children, the safety standards for importing toys in Europe and the United States have gradually become stricter. For example, since ASTM F963 was changed from a voluntary standard to a mandatory regulation in 2009, the number of toy recalls has suddenly increased. fell. Therefore, being familiar with the product regulations of the target market becomes the key for exporters, suppliers and producers to export products smoothly.

1. What is classified as a toy or children’s product ?

CPSIA regulations apply not only to toys, but to all products intended for use by children 12 years of age or younger. This means that in addition to toys, a wide variety of other goods, including children’s clothing, furniture, fashion accessories, passenger cars, and hobby and sports equipment such as children’s fishing rods and soccer balls, also fall under CPSIA.

A product is classified as a toy or children’s product if it is intended for children to play or use in any setting. If you are not sure whether the product you are importing is a toy/children’s product, the CPSC provides guidance to make it easier for importers and distributors to understand.

Are the products on sale suitable or suitable for children 12 years of age or younger?

Is the product on the package suitable or suitable for use or play by children 12 years of age or younger?

Does the retail display (or online retailer) of the product present it as suitable or suitable for children 12 years of age or younger?

Is the product generally considered to be a toy or product designed primarily for children 12 years of age or younger?

If the answer to any of these four questions is “yes”, then your product is considered a toy or children’s product and must be CPSIA compliant.

2. What are the different categories of toys?

For Importing Toys Into The USA, Toys or children’s products sold in the United States are subject to different levels of safety regulation, depending on the age of the children they are intended for or designed for. The younger the child, the stricter the rules.

Toys or children’s products for children 3 years and younger (babies) are the most stringent, followed by toys or children’s products for children 3-5 years old (toddlers). Toys or products designed for children aged 6 to 12 are the last category, with slightly more relaxed regulations, as older children are better able to protect themselves and are less likely to swallow or chew their toys.

Toys and children’s products are divided into age groups in this way to ensure that very young children are protected from additional risks, such as potential choking hazards or the toxic effects of putting toys and other products in the mouth.

3. CPSIA regulations

For a legally Importing Toys or children’s product to be sold in the U.S., the product must comply with CPSIA regulations, and if the toy is imported from abroad and not made in the U.S., it is up to the importer. In order to be CPSIA compliant, you must take several steps to sell your product in the United States.

Your product must comply with all relevant safety regulations, be lab tested to prove it, and have a tracking label on the packaging, and possibly the product itself. Your items must also be imported with a Children’s Product Certificate to certify that they are approved for sale in the United States.

4. Labeling requirements for different types of toys

All toys and children’s products sold in the US must have a Children’s Product Certificate to be legal (more on this), and there are rules for children’s product and toy labelling as well.

1) Tracking tags

2) Additional labelling rules for infant products

3) Choking Hazard Labels

5. U.S. Importing Toys product testing rules

All toys and children’s products sold in the U.S.—regardless of where they are made—must be tested by a third party before they can be sold, and they need to be sold legally before a product can be certified as a children’s product.

Nor can an importer or manufacturer choose just any laboratory to test a product – you must use one of the CPSC accredited laboratories.

Product testing ensures that the toy is safe for the child’s age range for which it is intended, does not contain small parts or choking hazards for children of that age, and that the product does not contain any potentially toxic or hazardous substances.

Make sure to choose a manufacturer or supplier that offers toys and children’s products that comply with the CPSC rules, or you may find yourself doing business with a company that cannot manufacture products that meet US standards. When you visit or contact manufacturers, only consider those that manufacture CPSIA compliant products and can demonstrate this.

6. CPC certification of toys and children’s products

After your products pass laboratory testing, they must be accompanied by a Children’s Product Certificate (CPC) developed by the importer in order to be legally imported for sale in the United States. This, along with the product labeling rules we outlined earlier, constitute the rules covering the legal sale of children’s products and toys in the United States.

Importers of goods are responsible for providing their goods with a Children’s Product Certificate, which must accompany all toys and children’s products entering the United States.

7. What happens if you violate the CPSIA regulations About Importing Toys Into The USA ?

CPSIA regulations are designed to ensure consumer safety and ensure that toys and children’s products do not pose a health hazard or risk to children. These rules are strictly enforced and there are severe penalties for violating any part of them.

After all, breaking the rules can put your child’s life at risk, and that’s something everyone should take seriously.

If your products are not tested, properly labeled and certified when Importing Toys Into The USA, you could face hefty fines of up to $100,000 per violation, criminal prosecution that could result in the seizure of your assets, and up to five years in prison.

To avoid exposing yourself to fines, penalties and prosecution, it is important to ensure that your products are not only safe for the children they target, but are also properly tested, marked and certified as legal.

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