CPSC’s Recent Action Doesn’t Help Powersports

Dealers Still Face Feb. 10, 2009, Deadline

The Consumer Product Safety Commission Friday pushed back the testing and certification deadline for its lead content rule in kid’s ATVs to Feb. 10, 2010, giving dealers and OEMs an extra year to test and certify to the safety of products. That’s good news.

But this is the bad news: The action provides no real help to our industry because dealers still must obey the Feb. 10, 2009, deadline prohibiting the sale of kid’s products that exceed the lead content limit.

Here’s the situation, as explained to me by the CPSC today:

ALL PRODUCTS SOLD BY DEALERS INTENDED FOR CHILDREN 12 AND YOUNGER MUST COMPLY WITH THE 30 YEAR OLD LEAD PAINT STANDAND AND THE NEW TOTAL LEAD CONTENT LIMITS STARTING ON FEB. 10.

DEALERS ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO TEST, BUT THEY MUST ENSURE THAT THE PRODUCTS THEY SELL TO KIDS ARE SAFE AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW.

In a nutshell, if a retailer has a product made for kids that does not meet the lead content rule, she will be breaking the law if she sells the product after Feb. 10, 2009. These products can include machines such as kid’s ATVs, dirt bikes, motorcycles, and snowmobiles, as well as collectible toy units, helmets, parts, garments and accessories.

This is a huge problem for retailers that sell powersports products and could force some 13,000 U.S. dealers to dump products with a wholesale value of more than $50 million in the next 10 days, by my estimates.

“Unfortunately, the CPSC action is not nearly as good news as it seems,” points out Paul Vitrano, general council of the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC). “CPSC provided no relief to our industry.”

Since the CPSC in its action Friday didn’t drop or delay the lead content limits, effective Feb 10, 2009, powersports companies will be prohibited from selling products with lead content that exceed the limits set in the law, Vitrano told me today.

“The CPSC action only stays the testing and certification requirements for those companies that know their products do not exceed the limits,” says Vitrano. “We need to continue urging CPSC and Congress to grant our petitions for temporary exclusions or to extend the effective date of the lead content limits.”

The lead content rule is part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that became law last August and applies to products intended for children under 12 years of age.

I’ll have more on this in posts here over the next several days as the MIC and other industry representatives work to help dealers avoid Black Tuesday, Feb. 10. JD

Contact me with news tips and story ideas
at 952/893-6876 or joe@powersportsupdate.com.

Tags: ATV, CPSC, Delmont, dirt bike, Facebook, Feb. 10, helmets, lead content, linkedin, MIC, Motorcycle, Motorcycle Industry Council, Snowmobile, Vitrano