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The questions to ask a supplier

Updated October 2026

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One: what exactly was tested?Two: what were the effectiveness figures?Three: does it cover resecuring and repeated use?Four: will you put it in writing against these part numbers?Five: what invalidates it?And one for yourself Ask them before you design the label References

Five questions, and the first one does most of the work.

One: what exactly was tested?

Which closure, on which container, as a combination. If the answer names only a closure, you are being offered a component. This is the question that resolves nearly every ambiguity in this category.

Two: what were the effectiveness figures?

The child-resistant effectiveness and the senior adult use effectiveness. The standard sets not less than 85 percent and not less than 90 percent respectively, and a tested package has actual numbers.

Three: does it cover resecuring and repeated use?

The senior test includes properly resecuring, and the standard expects the package to keep working over its customary number of openings. A result that covers first opening only is incomplete for a daily product.

Four: will you put it in writing against these part numbers?

Documentation naming what you are ordering, not a general statement about a range. This is the difference between evidence and marketing, and it is the same test the oils and supplements properties apply to their own claims.

Five: what invalidates it?

A different liner, a different fill, a label, a second source for the same bottle. Knowing which changes restart the question tells you what you may vary later without quietly losing the compliance you paid for.

And one for yourself

Is this product actually required to be in special packaging? That is answerable from the regulations and it determines whether you need a tested package or simply want a cap a child finds difficult. The two have very different costs.

Ask them before you design the label

If the answer sends you to a different container, every dimension on the artwork changes. Settling the package first and the graphics second is the order that avoids paying for both twice.

References

16 CFR 1700.15, Poison prevention packaging standards: child-resistant effectiveness of not less than 85 percent without a demonstration, and senior adult use effectiveness of not less than 90 percent. Special packaging must continue to function for the number of openings and closings customary for its size and contents. law.cornell.edu

16 CFR 1700.20, the test protocol. Children aged 42 to 51 months in three bands; panels of 50 rising to 200. Senior adults: 100 participants, 25 percent aged 50-54, 25 percent 55-59, 50 percent 60-70, 70 percent female, with a five minute and then a one minute period, and the package must be opened and properly resecured. law.cornell.edu

16 CFR 1700.14, the list of substances required to be in special packaging. law.cornell.edu

Written from the Poison Prevention Packaging Act regulations, not from a test laboratory. Child-resistant packaging is certified by testing a specific package as a system, and nothing here certifies anything. If you need a compliant package, the testing is the route and a matching closure is not a substitute for it.