Reese’s Law – Guide to Button Cell Battery Safety Requirements

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Reese's Law
Reese’s Law, enacted in honor of a toddler who lost her life due to the ingestion of a button cell battery, intends to protect users from similar tragedies. It mandates the establishment of a safety standard, which in turn sets requirements for button cell and coin batteries, and products that might contain such batteries.

This guide explains the background and purpose of Reese’s Law. It also covers 16 CFR Part 1263, the safety standard proposed by the CPSC as a result of the law. This guide also covers the standard’s product scope, as well as requirements regarding performance, labeling, testing, and certification.
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STURDY Act – Safety Requirements for Clothing Storage Units

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STURDY Act
The STURDY Act mandates the CPSC to establish a mandatory safety standard protecting young children from potential injury or death resulting from clothing or storage units tipping over. The act also requires the standard to contain stability tests and product warning label requirements.

In this guide, we explain when and why the STURDY Act was signed into law, and its requirements concerning testing and warnings. We also cover the ASTM F2057 requirements, which was adopted as mandatory safety standard by the CPSC, as a result of the STURDY Act.
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Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulation: An Essential Guide

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The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulation aims to ensure that PPE sold in the EU is safe to use and protects users from foreseeable risks. The regulation covers equipment that is designed to protect users from different risks (e.g. electric shocks or falls from heights) and in different environments (e.g. workplace or outdoor sports).

The regulation covers products ranging form sunglasses and bicycle helmets to work gloves and protective footwear.

This guide explains what importers and manufacturers must know about the PPE requirements such as harmonised standards, conformity assessments, documentation, and labelling.
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Phthalate Regulations in the United States: An Overview

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Phthalates are a group of chemicals used to improve certain material characteristics in plastics. However, phthalates may cause infertility, obesity, and cancer. It’s therefore not surprising that these substances are subject to increasingly strict regulations – especially when it comes to infant and children’s products.

That said, phthalates regulations also cover food packaging, kitchen utensils, and other products. Keep reading, and learn what importers and manufacturers must know about US phthalates restrictions and lab testing.
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Phthalate Regulations in the European Union: An Overview

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Phthalates are chemicals used to improve the flexibility and durability of certain plastics. Some of them have been linked to certain cancers, metabolic disorders, and male infertility. As a result, the European Union strictly regulates the usage of phthalates in consumer products.

Still, consumer products, including toys, PVC plastic products, and food packaging, might contain restricted phthalates as these are not restricted or banned in all countries. In this guide, we explain what importers and manufacturers must know about phthalate restrictions in the European Union.
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General Product Safety Directive (GPSD): An Overview

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All products sold in the EU must be safe for consumer to use, even if no specific directive, regulation or standard exist for the product in question. This is also the purpose of the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD).

Note that, even if you sell products that are mainly covered by other regulations (e.g. electronics, which are covered by several CE marking directives) it is still possible that the GPSD still apply for some aspects, such as mechanical safety.

In this guide, we explain what producers must know about harmonised standards, documentation, labelling, and lab testing.

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Toy Safety Directive: An Essential Guide for Importers and Manufacturers

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Toys sold in the European Union must comply with the Toy Safety Directive, which sets some of the strictest toy safety requirements in the world.

Ensuring compliance with the Toy Safety Directive requires following certain safety standards, documentation, labelling, and lab testing requirements.

In this guide, we explain what importers and manufacturers must know about harmonised standards, technical documentation, conformity assessment procedures, CE marking, lab testing, and other requirements under the Toy Safety Directive.
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EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS): An Essential Guide

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The RoHS Directive restricts chemicals and heavy metals in electronic components, solder, and materials (e.g. casing). It applies to electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) imported or manufactured in the European Union.

The requirements of the RoHS directive go beyond substance restrictions. More specifically, the directive also covers CE marking and other labelling requirements, documentation, and lab testing.
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Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive: An Essential Guide

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The Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive covers electric and electronic equipment that may cause electromagnetic interference with other devices, or that might be disturbed by the electromagnetic field created by other devices.

Some types of electronic devices, such as quartz watches, do not fall under the scope of the directive because they are considered “inherently benign”, in the sense that they do not interfere and are not affected by other devices.

In this guide, we cover what EU importers and manufacturers must know about the directive, including harmonised standards, labelling, documentation, and lab testing requirements.
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Low Voltage Directive (LVD): An Essential Guide

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The Low Voltage Directive (LVD) aims to ensure the safety of electrical and electronic products with an input or output voltage within a certain range. Generally speaking, the Low Voltage Directive applies to devices and their power supply units that can be plugged into the power socket. Hence, it covers both consumer electronics and AC adapters.

In this guide, we explain what importers and manufacturers must know concerning the directive’s safety standards, labelling, documentation, and other requirements.
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