Consumer Product Safety Commission Compliance

The U.S. government passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) on August 14, 2008, to strengthen federal consumer product safety laws enforced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The CPSIA requires the issuance of a General Certification of Conformity (GCC) for every consumer product that is subject to any safety rule, ban, standard, or regulation enforced by the CPSC. The GCC is required for all applicable consumer products manufactured on or after November 12, 2008. CPSC has issued a final rule requiring that all domestic manufacturers and importers provide the GCC.

Under the Flammability Standard for Apparel set forth in 16 CFR 1610, plain surface fabrics weighing 2.6 ounces per square yard or more are exempt from flammability testing. All fabrics, both plain surface and raised-fiber surface, regardless of weight, made entirely from any of the following fibers or entirely from combination of the following fibers: acrylic, modacrylic, nylon, olefin, polyester, or wool is also exempt from testing.

Since Alternative distributes products that are exempt and non-exempt from flammability testing (over and under 2.6 oz. per square yard), we will be providing certificates of compliance for all products manufactured on or after November 12, 2008. All conformity certificates will made available electronically at this site.

As of August 18, 2009 the CPSC's vote reaffirmed the fact that certain materials and children's products do not exceed the lead limits under section 101(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act ("CPSIA"), and, therefore, are not subject to the lead limits in section 101(a) of the CPSIA or the testing requirements of section 102 of the CPSIA. After reviewing and verifying this test data, that staff was able to determine that most textile products are manufactured using processes that do not introduce lead or result in an end product that would exceed the CPSIA's lead limits. Similarly, the staff was also able to determine that natural and manufactured fabrics are produced in controlled environments by processes that do not use lead or incorporate lead during their production

For additional info, you can download details of the regulations or visit the CPSC for additional information.

You can search and download certificates here.

We will post any changes in the CPSC application of the rules as they become available on this site.