Tech Watch: CPSC publishes Direct Final Rule for products containing button cell or coin batteries
On 21 September 2023, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published in the Federal Register the direct final rule (DFR) 16 CFR 1263 that establishes the safety requirements for button cell or coin batteries and consumer products containing such batteries, as mandated by the Reese’s Law. The new rule incorporates by reference the voluntary standard, ANSI/UL 4200A-2023, as the mandatory standard for consumer products containing button cell or coin batteries.
The DFR will become effective on 23 October 2023, unless the CPSC receives a significant adverse comment by 5 October 2023. Third-party testing and certification of children’s products subject to the rule will not be required until 20 December 2023. However, in recognition of limited testing availability and for the avoidance of hardship, the CPSC has granted a 180-day transitional period of enforcement discretion from 21 September 2023 through 19 March 2024.
Also in the same issue of the Federal Register, the CPSC published a final rule (FR) to establish the requirements for warning labels on the packaging of button cell or coin batteries, which will become effective on 21 September 2024.
Scope:
With the adoption of 16 CFR 1263, the scope of the requirements will be consumer products containing or designed to use one or more button cell or coin batteries, regardless of whether such batteries are intended to be replaced by the consumer or are included with the product or sold separately.
A button cell or coin battery is defined as “a single cell battery with a diameter greater than the height of the battery; or any other battery, regardless of the technology used to produce an electrical charge, that is determined by the Commission to pose an ingestion hazard.”
The scope exempts:
- Toy products that are in compliance with the battery accessibility and labelling requirements of 16 CFR 1250; and
- Button cell or coin batteries that the CPSC has determined do not present an ingestion hazard, such as zinc-air button cell or coin batteries.
Requirements:
Under 16 CFR 1263, ANSI/UL 4200A-2023, Standard for Safety for Products Incorporating Button Batteries or Coin Cell Batteries, will become mandatory. ANSI/UL 4200A-2023 includes the following:
- Performance Requirements for Battery Compartment Securement;
- Preconditioning requirements;
- Use and abuse tests;
- Packaging requirements; and
- Labelling requirements.
Additionally, 16 CFR 1263 includes warning label requirements for packaging of button cell or coin batteries, including button cell or coin batteries packaged separately with a consumer product.
Sources:
Direct Final Rule: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-05-11/pdf/2023-09999.pdf
Final Rule: Warning label requirements for packaging of button cell or coin batteries:
Enquiry:
For questions and additional information, please contact Dr Pratik Ichhaporia (pratikichhaporia@eurofinsus.com,+1-669-837-2257) or David Hong (David.Hong@cpt.eurofinscn.com).