Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Notice of extension of date of testing and certification of youth all-terrain vehicles.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC” or “Commission”) is announcing that the Commission has extended, by 60 days, the date by which manufacturers (including importers) of youth all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) must submit sufficient samples of such products to a third party conformity assessment body approved by the Commission for testing and, based on such testing, issue a certificate that the products manufactured after the deadline comply with certain CPSC regulations relating to ATVs. The extension is granted because there are an insufficient number of third party conformity assessment bodies accredited by the Commission to permit testing and certification under the original schedule.
The date after which youth ATVs must be tested by third party conformity assessment bodies accredited by the Commission to assess conformity with the CPSC regulations for all-terrain vehicles is extended until January 25, 2011.
Comments in response to this notice should be submitted by December 30, 2010. Comments on this notice should be captioned “Third Party Testing and Certification of Youth All-Terrain Vehicles: Request for Stay of Enforcement and Other Relief.”
You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC–2010–0115, by any of the following methods:
Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for paper, disk, or CD–ROM submissions), preferably in five copies, to: Office of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Room 820, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone (301) 504–7923.
Richard McCallion, Program Area Team Leader, Office of Hazard Identification and Reduction, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,10901 Darnestown Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20878; e-mail:
Section 14(a)(3)(B)(vi) of the CPSA, as added by section 102(a)(2) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (“CPSIA”), Public Law 110–314, directs the CPSC to establish and publish a notice of requirements for accreditation of third party conformity assessment bodies to assess children's products for conformity with “other children's product safety rules.” Section 14(f)(1) of the CPSA defines “children's product safety rule” as “a consumer product safety rule under [the CPSA] or similar rule, regulation, standard, or ban under any other Act enforced by the Commission, including a rule declaring a consumer product to be a banned hazardous product or substance.” Under section 14(a)(3)(A) of the CPSA, 15 U.S.C. 2063(a)(3)(A), each manufacturer (including an importer) or private labeler of products subject to those regulations must have products that are manufactured more than 90 days after the establishment and
In the
The notice of requirements also stated that the Commission will accept a certificate of compliance with 16 CFR part 1420,
• When the product was tested, the testing was done by a third party conformity assessment body, which at that time, was ISO/IEC 17025 accredited by an International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation-Mutual Recognition Arrangement (“ILAC/MRA”) signatory. For firewalled conformity assessment bodies, the Commission will not accept a certificate of compliance based upon testing performed by the third party conformity assessment body, unless the firewalled conformity assessment body was accredited, by order, as a firewalled conformity assessment body before the product was tested, even though the order would not have included the test methods in 16 CFR part 1420.
• The third party conformity assessment body's application for testing using the test methods in 16 CFR part 1420 is accepted by the CPSC on or before October 26, 2010.
• The product was tested on or after November 4, 2008 (the date that 16 CFR part 1420 was published).
• The accreditation scope in effect for the third party conformity assessment body at the time of testing expressly included testing to 16 CFR part 1420.
• The test results show compliance with the applicable current standards and/or regulations.
• The third party conformity assessment body's accreditation, including 16 CFR part 1420 in its scope, remains in effect through the effective date for mandatory third party testing and manufacturer certification for conformity with 16 CFR part 1420.
In response to the notice of requirements, the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (“SVIA”) filed a comment that included a request that the Commission extend by 60 days the date by which manufacturers must begin testing and certification of youth ATVs. Among the reasons given for the extension were the complexity of 16 CFR part 1420 and that no third party conformity assessment bodies have been accredited by an accrediting body that is a signatory to the ILAC/MRA, a prerequisite for such conformity assessment bodies to be accepted by the CPSC.
On November 17, 2010, the SVIA filed a “Petition for Extension and Stay of Enforcement for Third Party Testing for Certain All-Terrain Vehicles.” The petition requested a 60-day extension of the date by which manufacturers must begin testing and certification of youth ATVs, stating that no third party conformity assessment bodies have been accredited by the CPSC to test for conformity with 16 CFR part 1420. The SVIA concluded that it is unlikely that a sufficient number of accredited third party conformity assessment bodies will exist by the end of the requested 60-day extension. As a result, the SVIA also requested that the Commission consider additional forms of relief, such as a further stay of enforcement of these requirements for one year (to November 27, 2011). Hereafter, the comment and the petition will be referred to collectively as “the petition.”
As to the request for a 60-day extension of the date by which manufacturers must begin testing and certification of youth ATVs, the Commission is not aware of any third party conformity assessment bodies that have the requisite accreditation by an ILAC–MRA signatory to test for conformity to 16 CFR part 1420. Given this situation, the Commission is granting the request for a 60-day extension.
The Commission is not granting or denying the request for a one-year stay of enforcement, or other relief, at this time. The Commission invites comment on this request. Comments should be filed by December 30, 2010. The Commission particularly is interested in comments on:
1. What efforts have been made by ATV manufacturers or others to obtain tests of youth ATVs by third party conformity assessment bodies and to encourage third party conformity assessment bodies to become accredited to do so?
2. What is the status of the efforts of third party conformity assessment bodies to become accredited to test youth ATVs, and how long will it take to obtain such accreditation?
3. What barriers currently exist to gaining accreditation that are specifically related to youth ATVs?
4. How are ATV manufacturers currently demonstrating compliance with the ANSI/SVIA–2007–1 standard? What ATV manufacturers are currently doing in-house testing of their ATVs for conformance to the standard? What steps, if any, have these manufacturers taken to have their existing in-house testing facilities become accredited third party conformity assessment bodies?
5. What third party testing facilities are capable of testing youth ATVs to the ANSI/SVIA–2007–1 standard?
This extension is effective beginning on November 27, 2010. Accordingly, each manufacturer of a youth ATV subject to 16 CFR part 1420 must have samples of any such product, or samples that are identical in all material respects to such product, that is manufactured after January 25, 2011, tested by a third party conformity assessment body accredited to do so by the Commission. Further, for youth ATVs manufactured after January 25, 2011, the manufacturer must issue a certificate of compliance with 16 CFR part 1420 based on that testing. (Under the CPSA, the term “manufacturer” includes anyone who manufactures or imports a product.
Furthermore, the Commission is changing the dates it had established for when it would accept the results of tests
• When the product was tested, the testing was done by a third party conformity assessment body that at that time was ISO/IEC 17025 accredited by an ILAC–MRA signatory. For firewalled conformity assessment bodies, the Commission will not accept a certificate of compliance based on testing performed by the third party conformity assessment body unless the firewalled conformity assessment body was accredited by a Commission order as a firewalled conformity assessment body before the product was tested, even though the order will not have included the test methods in 16 CFR part 1420.
• The third party conformity assessment body's application for testing using the test methods in the regulations identified in this notice is accepted by the CPSC on or before December 27, 2010.
• The product was tested on or after November 4, 2008 (the date that 16 CFR part 1420 was published).
• The accreditation scope in effect for the third party conformity assessment body at the time of testing expressly included testing to 16 CFR part 1420.
• The test results show compliance with the applicable current standards and/or regulations.
• The third party conformity assessment body's accreditation, including 16 CFR part 1420 in its scope, remains in effect through February 7, 2011.
Except for the dates that are adjusted by 60 days in this notice, all provisions of the notice of requirements published on August 27, 2010, 75 FR 52616, remain in effect.