CPSIA (children's products)

Under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, products designed or intended primarily for children 12 and under must be tested by a CPSC-accepted third-party laboratory for the rules that apply to them, including total lead content in accessible parts (100 ppm), lead in paint and surface coatings (90 ppm), certain phthalates in toys and child-care articles, and product-specific standards such as the toy safety standard. The manufacturer or importer then issues a Children's Product Certificate (CPC), and the product needs permanent tracking labels.

General-use products still need a General Certificate of Conformity when a CPSC rule applies to them.

Where it bites: whether a product is "primarily intended for children" is judged from factors such as its design, marketing and packaging, so a gadget styled and sold for kids can bring itself into scope.