Peter Feldman, the acting chairman of the CPSC, announced the removal of the following Chinese labs from CPSC’s list of recognized laboratories:
- Shenzhen GTT Testing Technology Co., Ltd. (CPSC Lab ID 1843)
- Dongguan True Safety Testing Co., Ltd. (CPSC Lab ID 1755)
- Fujian Berton Testing Service Co., Ltd. (CPSC Lab ID 1857)
- Shenzhen HUAK Testing Technology Co., Ltd. (CPSC Lab ID 1710)
Feldman explained, “If you’ve got a lab that can’t demonstrate integrity, independence, full compliance with our testing regime and laws, that creates real problems when you know there’s issues with the reliability of the certificates that importers are required to furnish when they’re trying to bring things into the country.”
Pay attention here! The CPSC is acknowledging their suspicion of product certifications for product coming out of China. Feldman and the CPSC have taken a zero-tolerance approach towards foreign labs that cheat the American testing system. In 2022, Feldman warned that the CPSC’s accreditation under prior leadership relied too much on self-attestation, believing it lacked meaningful verification, especially for laboratories operating in authoritarian countries. He remarked, “It’s fair to say there are significant quality and safety concerns when it comes to cheap Chinese junk that’s flooding the American market.”
If you’re not an AFSL member and are concerned about the thoroughness and rigor of your testing program or the laboratory results you rely on for your certification, you need to reassess your program. With e-filing requirements coming soon, certifying that your consumer fireworks comply with all CPSC requirements based on a suspect test report is likely to ruin your day when you get that certified letter from the feds. You are not allowed to plead ignorance as to the qualifications of your lab or the structure of your testing program, as the law looks at what you know or should have known.
AFSL provides testing that not only covers CPSC’s mandatory requirements but includes applicable DOT requirements and performance criteria associated with CPSC defect findings that often result in product recalls. Reach out to us if we can help with your testing needs.
