Not deciding is a decision that somebody else gets to make for you.
Nobody asked the question
A craft line grows, some pieces are small and bright, and the four factors have never been looked at. The determination then gets made by whoever raises it.
The packaging said children and the label said adults
Factor A asks whether a manufacturer's statement is reasonable. A disclaimer contradicted by the package it is printed on is the textbook unreasonable statement.
The display did the representing
Factor B names display as well as packaging. A neutral package on a table of children's goods is still being represented as appropriate for children.
The findings could not be documented
Which is the expensive version. A children's line can only be made of parts you can certify, and a thousand bails from an unknown source cannot be used in one.
The encapsulation was assumed to solve it
The inaccessible component clause turns on normal and reasonably foreseeable use and abuse. A pendant a child bites or drops is the foreseeable abuse, and a cracked casing is not a sealed one.
There were no batch marks
So when one pigment lot turned out to be a problem, there was no way to say which pieces contained it. The choice was everything or nothing.
The marks were on the piece only
The requirement names the product and its packaging. A tiny pendant that cannot carry the information is exactly why the package is in the sentence.
The record behind the mark did not exist
A batch letter that leads nowhere is decoration. The mark and the notebook are one system.
The fix is a decision and two habits
Decide which line is which, align all four factors, and keep a dated batch note with certificates attached. That is the whole programme for a small maker.
And it is cheaper before the first order
Deciding after a thousand findings, a print run of packaging and a season of photographs is the expensive order, and it is the usual one.
References
15 U.S.C. 2052(a)(2) defines a children's product as "a consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger" and gives four factors for the determination: "(A) A statement by a manufacturer about the intended use of such product, including a label on such product if such statement is reasonable. (B) Whether the product is represented in its packaging, display, promotion, or advertising as appropriate for use by children 12 years of age or younger. (C) Whether the product is commonly recognized by consumers as being intended for use by a child 12 years of age or younger. (D) The Age Determination Guidelines issued by the Commission staff in September 2002, and any successor to such guidelines."
law.cornell.edu15 U.S.C. 2063(a)(5)(A): "the manufacturer of a children's product shall place permanent, distinguishing marks on the product and its packaging, to the extent practicable, that will enable" the manufacturer to ascertain "the location and date of production of the product, cohort information (including the batch, run number, or other identifying characteristic)" and the ultimate purchaser to ascertain "the manufacturer or private labeler, location and date of production of the product, and cohort information". Subparagraph (B) lets the Commission exclude a product or class by regulation where it determines marking is not practicable.
law.cornell.edu15 U.S.C. 1278a. Subsection (a) sets total lead content for any part of a children's product at "100 parts per million" by weight, and (f)(1) substituted "0.009 percent" for lead in paint on children's products. Subsection (b)(2) provides that the limits "shall not apply to any component part of a children's product that is not accessible to a child through normal and reasonably foreseeable use and abuse", including where the part is protected by a sealed covering or casing that remains intact during normal use. The children's product definition is taken from section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act.
law.cornell.edu 