Overview
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety statute, enacted in 1922, is a fundamental law in the field of safety. The statute authorizes the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSS) to prescribe specific safety requirements for items in specific categories. Currently, the CPSS has the authority to rule on the safety of more than 15,000 consumer products, and will forcibly prohibit the manufacture, importation, and sale of any product that the CPSS determines does not meet safety requirements. The Commission also issues public notices requesting consumers to return the goods to the store where they were sold or to request the manufacturer to repair the goods. The Commission also imposes duties and obligations on manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers to ensure and monitor the safety of goods. Violators are subject to civil and criminal liability and fines.
The law requires that all consumer products imported into the United States must be inspected, and that substandard products that do not meet the requirements of the law are not allowed to enter the U.S. market. Such as food, drugs, medical devices and cosmetics law provisions. The importation of these products must be inspected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in accordance with the law, and goods found to be in noncompliance with the legal standards are not allowed to enter the U.S. market. For the import of textiles into the United States, the requirements of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act (amended on November 3, 1969), the Wool Products Labeling Act (1939) and the Flammable Fabrics Act (19657
May 4, 1969 amended), for those who do not meet the test, are not allowed to enter the U.S. market.
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is the organization that the U.S. Consumer Products Commission relies on to rule on compliance with safety rules. Underwriters Laboratories for electromechanical products, construction materials, chemical products, fire equipment to textiles, clothing, toys and other products related to safety testing. Many U.S. states have issued rules and regulations in the relevant rules and regulations are clearly stipulated in the safety-related products, must be labeled with UL marking, otherwise it will be banned from production, distribution and import. The basic procedures for applying for the UL Mark are as follows:
1. The applicant (including manufacturers, distributors, exporters, etc.) to the U.S. Underwriters Laboratories in the U.S. and other countries or regions in the office of the customer adviser to the United States to send a letter of application, which includes a variety of types of models, electrical parameters of the rated value of the performance of the operating instructions, photographs, structural drawings, wiring diagrams, enclosure materials, installation instructions, replacement of components, and has been recognized by UL. components, and has been UL recognized component catalog and the name of the manufacturer, origin, and so on.
2. The customer's consultant will forward the application letter to the relevant engineering department of the insurer's laboratory in the United States and will write back to the applicant within five days, after which the engineer who replied will send the applicant a formal application form and a letter containing all the instructions.
3. Upon receipt of the official form and letter, the applicant sends the signed official application form to the engineer and ships the samples with an advance deposit.
4. Upon receipt of the signed application form, bond and samples, the U.S. Insurer's Laboratory prepares an appraisal and test plan and notifies the applicant that during the appraisal period, the two parties have signed an agreement on supervision and inspection, which is formally maintained by the U.S. Insurer's Laboratory.
5. After sample testing, the applicant and the U.S. insurer's laboratory factory inspector issued a formal supervisory inspection report (i.e., inspection specifications), *** content:
(1) a detailed description of the structure of the product;
(2) the work of the implementation of a variety of tests must be configured instrumentation;
(3) sampling instructions;
(4) the U.S. testing programs supervised by the insurer's laboratory inspectors, and so on.
At the same time, according to the complexity of the product testing in the following ways:
(1) the test program is not too complex products, the U.S. insurer's laboratories to its factory inspectors to issue factory inspection (FPI) instructions, that is, the approval of the use of UL mark.
(2) for the more complex goods, must pass the factory production inspection (FPI) after passing, before the use of UL marking can be approved.
For products that fail the test, UL will send a report of failure, and pointed out the specific reasons for failure and recommendations for improvement, product improvement, can re-apply for accreditation. In addition, under the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the safety of food, drugs and cosmetics
rules put forward specific requirements.