 In July 2020, the CPSC published their final rule for gates and enclosures. While incorporating by reference the ASTM safety standard, ASTM F1004-19, the Commission has voted to include additional requirements in the federal rule. These requirements comprise a separate warning label on the top rail of pressure mounted gates that require wall cups and visual side pressure indicators for all other pressure mounted gates. Given these substantial changes, CPSC commissioners voted to extend the 12 month time period between the publication and effective dates for manufacturers to adjust their products to meet the federal rule. The effective date for the new federal rule is July 6, 2021, but your company should plan accordingly and redesign your products in a timely manner. So our agenda today, oh, thank you. So I have been with the CPSC for about four years. I'm working in the Department of Epidemiology. And if you don't know me, you may know my colleagues, Shelby Mathis and Will Cusie. We also have an intern, Grace Elman, who's been working with us during her breaks from school over the past few years. So we're a small team of three and sometimes four, but we do answer about 2,300 inquiries from small businesses throughout the year. So we're very happy to make this presentation on gates and enclosures to help businesses understand this new requirement from the CPSC. So during the presentation today, we'll define exactly what a gate and enclosure is, what the labeling and instructional literature requirements are testing requirements. If you've been manufacturing children's products in the past, you should be familiar with the CPC requirement. We'll show you a few recall examples and then share the CPSC business resources that we have. And then finally, we'll follow it up with a Q&A session if you have additional questions. So some history on the gates and enclosures rulemaking. On July 7th of 2019, the NPR notice of proposed rulemaking was issued, and then about a year later this past July, the final rule was published. So if you're aware of the existing voluntary standard for gates and enclosures, it is ASTM F1004-19. So if you're already following that standard, that's fantastic. Just keep in mind that this new mandatory standard that was published in July 2020 incorporates the voluntary standard with two specific modifications that you would be required to comply with next year when the standard becomes effective. So those requirements are that gates with wall cups must include a separate conspicuous warning label on the top rail of the gate regarding correct installation using the wall cups in order to meet the 30-pound push-out force test. And also gates without wall cups must use visual side pressure indicators to signal to consumers whether the gate is correctly installed in order to meet the 30-pound push-out force test. So again, that voluntary standard, it's a good idea to be compliant with that now leading up until the effective date of this. Just remember those two changes that the mandatory standard makes. So the purpose of the ASTM voluntary standard to major attendance here, it addresses the incidence of head and neck entrapment in children's expansion gates and expandable enclosures, and addresses the ability of a pressure gate to resist push-out force. So it does not address incidents in which gates or enclosures are blatantly misused. So in 16 CFR Part 1239, we define both what a gate and an enclosure is. There are similar product types, but they do have some differences. So a gate is a barrier intended to be erected in an opening such as a doorway to prevent the passage of young children, but which can be removed by older persons who are able to operate the locking mechanism. So a gate can be between a doorway, it can be at the top of the stairs. An enclosure defined by the same standard is a self-supporting barrier intended to completely surround an area or play space within which a young child may be confined. So the gate is erected in an opening and enclosure is entirely self-supporting, entirely surrounding the child. And these products are intended for children ages six months to 24 months. So defining gates and enclosures, we, in the voluntary standard, they talk about expansion and expandable. These are the terms used in the ASTM standard. CPSC reviewed hazard patterns and indicated that whether the gate was expandable or an expansion gate were not, it had the same hazard pattern, so we decided to remove those terms from the mandatory standard. So we just refer to these category of products as gates and enclosures, not specifically expansion gates and expandable enclosures, although they are included within that definition. So here are some examples of gates. As you can see, they are erecting a barrier between two walls at the top of the stairs and could be for a doorway. So these specific gates, again, are not meant as an endorsement of the product show, we're just showing some examples of what those, those gates could look like. And then here are some examples of enclosures. So again, these are not affixed to a wall, they are fully self-supporting and they completely enclose the child within a play area. All right, so we're going to move on to our first poll question. So the question is, is this product an enclosure? The product you see on your screen, it has a hexagonal shape. If you could advance to the next slide, Rita. So once again, if you'd like to join us, you can go to slido.com or you can scan that QR code to enter your, your choices here. So I'm just about to start the poll. So do you think this product is an enclosure? Give everyone a few minutes to make their choices. Okay, so we see a majority of respondents are saying that no, this product is not an enclosure. If you were on the fence with yes. All right, next, next slide. So this is a bit of a tricky question because this actually doesn't fall in the scope of what we're discussing today, but this product is actually what we consider a play yard. And the difference between an enclosure and a play yard is that a play yard has an attached floor, whereas enclosures do not. So those enclosures are fully self supporting with no attached floor. So if your product looks like the product on the right, it would be required to comply with 16 CFR part one to two one the safety standard for play yards. Otherwise, it may be in this other category we're discussing today, which is 16 CFR part 1239. And next slide. Right, so here we have a picture of a product that is. A child pushing a pet in front of a gate. So the question we have for you is, would this product be considered a child gate or a pet gate. Okay, so I think we have most respondents here saying that this product would be considered a child gate. So let's see what the answer would be. The gate would actually be a child gate so even though it's shown protecting a barrier from both pets and children, the very idea that it could be used with children means that it needs to meet the child product standards including the gates and enclosure standard. The child gate is entirely intended for and marketed to pet owners and there's no indication that it's a child gate. It would be outside the scope of this standard but marketing makes it a huge difference on how CPSC would be your product and how a consumer would be your product. I strongly recommend visiting CPSC dot gov slash children's product for more information on how to define your product if you're not sure how how it should be classified. So labeling and instructional literature. This must be permanently on the product and its packaging per the voluntary standard requirements. So first thing is going to be your manufacturer distributor or seller name. Second is your place of business that includes your city, state and mailing address including a zip code and your telephone number. And this requirement comes from 16 CFR 1130.4. So this is very specific to durable infant and toddler products. So if you if you're familiar with general children's products. If you're familiar with general children's label information that is not as strict as the durable infant and toddler labeling requirements so be sure that your entire your entirety of your contact information is included on that packaging. You also must include a code or a mark identifying the date, including the minimum of month and year of manufacture the product. So if you have an issue with one particular production run of your product, having a batch or run number serial numbers some way to identify that makes it a lot easier to identify the specific instances of an issue with a product rather than your entire product line. And if you have a copy of this presentation you can click on that link to our page on just the basic children's product tracking label information as well. Next slide. So informational statements included with the product need to include the assembly installation operation folding maintenance and cleaning instructions as applicable, as well as any warning statements. Also very important to include the size openings on which the product is meant to be used and instructions to discontinue use of the product if it becomes damaged broken or disassembled. So gates must have a statement of the limitations regarding the use of any included mounted hardware and information regarding where to install the gate relative to the floor. And then if your gate is going to be used at the top of the stairs you also would need to include a statement saying the minimum distance to the first step of those stairs. So here's an example of a few of the warning labels that you, you may require on your product. So the children, you know the giant hazard symbol that children have died or been seriously injured when gates are not securely installed, then include includes a variety of warning messages there. The second one is a specific warning regarding the wall cups that they must be installed to keep the gate in place that without the wall cups a child can push out and escape. And these warnings must be permanent conspicuous and in sans serif font. There's some testing requirements to make sure that those labels are permanent as well. So on your retail packaging, this should state the recommended age of the user the product. The product is not to be used with a child that is able to climb over or dislodge or open the gate. And the applicable opening sizes for the product. So the idea here is that when the consumer is going to the retail establishment that they're able to determine whether or not this product is appropriate for their child and whether or not is appropriate for the space in which they're trying to install it. In addition, retail packaging for products with wall cups should include, you must install wall cups to keep the gate in place without wall cups children can push out and escape so we saw an example of that label in the previous slide. And then if the wall cups or mounting hardware are packed in a hardware bag, that bag shall be marked or labeled with that warning statement as well so that the consumers will aware of that requirement. So as I mentioned, these class of products are under the durable infant and toddler products category, which means that they also require a product registration card which needs to be attached directly to the product and you can find out about this requirement and 16 CFR part 1130. So this means that you must provide consumers with a postage paid product registration card and maintain records of their names, addresses, emails and other contact information, you know, in the event of a recall that you could contact these consumers. And that you must permanently place manufacturer name and contact info model and name and number and the data manufacturer and each one of these durable products. So we do have a page that goes into these requirements more detail has some examples that you can click this link to visit. So our next poll question do I need to provide a paper product registration card if I sell direct to consumer and maintain contact information for all of my customers. So I've just opened that poll. Okay, it looks like most of the respondents have said, yes, that you would need to provide a paper product registration card, even if you're selling direct to consumers so I'll move on to the next slide. The answer is yes there's actually no exception to the paper registration card requirements in 16 CFR 1130. And we do quite get this question quite frequently with the durable infant other products because retailers feel like they're they've maintained great control over which customers they have, but again there's no exception to this. You're always going to need to provide that paper registration card directly on the product itself. So as far as chemical testing requirements, these are things that apply to all children's products on the two major requirements are lead content testing under 15 USC 1278 alpha and then lead and paint and surface coatings testing under 16 CFR part 1303. So two different limits here so the total lead content testing you can have no more than 100 parts per million in accessible parts of children's products. There are some exemptions to the testing requirements here. So, if your product is made of wood paper or similar materials. If it is what we call CMYK process printing inks which are inks that fully embed within the material that they're printed on. So natural fibers and manufactured fibers would be exempt under 16 CFR 1500.91. And so those are materials that would not require testing for the lead and paint and surface coatings. That limit is 90 parts per million. And so this requirement is only applicable if there is a paint or surface coating. So if you have a solid wood gate, and that is uncoated unpainted. That may not necessarily require that lead and paint testing, but any sort of paint coated pieces coated metal that would require testing under that lead and paint standard. So next polling question, does the mounting hardware included with my product need to meet total lead content requirements so that is the 15 USC 1278 a 100 parts per million for total lead content. When I will get this poll added here. Okay, so most people have said yes that this mounting hardware included with the product would need to meet the total lead content requirements. And that is true. So any accessible components of children's products must meet the 100 parts per million limit on total lead content. So again, there's some materials that would be exempt but any part of that hardware that is potentially accessible for a child to touch or mouth would require testing for total lead content. So next are basic physical mechanical testing requirements for children's products includes small parts and sharp points and edges. So the small part requirement is in 16 CFR part 1500 01. And this refers to small parts that would fit entirely into a small part cylinder which is specified in the regulation. So you may have seen these they're made to approximate the airway of the child. It's about the same size as a roll of a toilet paper tube. And any product that's intended for use by children under age three cannot have small parts with limited exceptions but gates and enclosures are not one of those exceptions, exceptions so they would need to be tested as well. So any components that would detach from the product after use and abuse testing can be considered small parts. And then for sharp points and edges this is in 16 CFR 1500.48 to 49. And there's certain test methods to determine whether or not a sharp point or edge is present in the part. Okay, so our next poll question, does the mounting hardware included separately with my product need to meet the small parts requirements and here's an example of what that mounting hardware might look like. Okay, so we're about evenly split on this one between yes and no about the small parts requirements for the hardware. So next slide. So it's a bit of a tricky question, but I actually know so the testing shall be completed on the products installed according to manufacturers instructions. So if that manufacturers instructions says that all of those small parts are all of those mounting hardware parts are supposed to be a fix to the product into the wall. That's where the product will be tested and how the product will be viewed. So, however, just keep in mind that installation hardware cannot become liberated during testing to create to create that small part. Specifically for the gates and enclosures requirements here are a list of some of the physical and mechanical testing that you will need to to comply with the latching locking and hinge mechanism durability test automatic closing system test locking mechanism test release mechanism tension test and torque test, vertical strength test, horizontal push out test, completely bound openings and bottom spacing, partially bound openings at the uppermost edge and then slot strength test. So details about what all of this testing entails are included in the ASTM standards so any manufacturers of these products I strongly encourage you to read through this standard and make sure that you understand these variety of tests. So we have pictures of some of these tests, some not all of them just to give you an idea of the type of mechanical testing that would be undergone at a third party lab. So here we have the visual side pressure indicator example. So that side if you work gate is a pressure mounted gate. It must have that side pressure indicator so as you can see here on the left. This is demonstrating insufficient pressure you see that red indicator showing between those two pieces of the product. And then on the right hand side we have sufficient pressure where the indicator is no longer showing because there's sufficient pressure in the gate. Next is this vertical strength test example. So the idea is that you don't want a child to be able to compress the top of the gate and then, you know, make its way over that gate. So the uppermost top rails edges or framing components shall not fracture to some gauge fold or have a deflection that reduces it to less than 22 inches from the floor when you're testing it in accordance with those test methods. So if this top in that picture if the top, the lowest point of that gate is less than 22 inches that would be a failure of this test. So here's an example of a partially bound opening. So you can see the top that there are several sides that could potentially entrap a child but there is an actual opening at the top so we call it partially bound because that's bound on several sides but not all sides. So here's just an example of a couple of the test probes that would be used to determine if this product is compliant with that partially bound opening requirement. And then here we have the completely bounded openings and bottom spacing. So at the bottom of the gate, the enclosure is completely bound by both the floor and the product itself. So they will do testing to make sure that certain probes cannot fit through the bounds of that bottom spacing. Here's an example of the horizontal push out test. And this is to ensure that a gate would not dislodge or open with a sufficient amount of pressure as described in the test methods. And some other performance requirements that are in the standard structural integrity so just no sharp edges exposed coils, any breakage of attachment systems, no opportunity for scissoring shearing or pinching. There's also a requirement to test for permanency of the labels and warnings and an adhesion test for warning labels that are applied directly to the surface of the product. So you want to make sure that those labels are fixed strongly enough that a consumer is not going to be able to easily peel off that that warning label and lose that information. And then finally for holes or slats, there's certain requirements here that test fixtures should not fit through them and that's intended to to make sure that small body parts like fingers and toes to not get stuck in those products. So there's different requirements for toys for gates and enclosures for gates. There shall be no toys or accessories attached to or sold with a gate. The intent of a gate is to prevent a child from accessing an area so you don't want to attach something to it that's going to make that gate more attractive to the child. With enclosures toys are allowed. However, they must meet all of the requirements of the US toy safety standard which incorporates a STMF 963-17. So if you have questions about the toy standard we have a variety of resources on our website. On the toy safety standard we have a few webinars that discuss that standard as well. Alright, so our next question can I rely on product safety testing my product on my gate enclosure in house. So if I'm doing that testing in my own facility can I rely on that testing. It looks like we got some votes in but our connection to slide out may have just been broken so again it looks like we're about split 50 50 no for. We're still on the last slide aren't we. Rita, can we try to to get out of the full screen mode for this slide and reload this particular slide to a poll. I think it's still showing the old poll that was that was in there. So the answer is for some reasons with I can tell you that it looks like 78% of our participants have said no and 22% have said yes. Okay, great, we'll move on to the next slide. So the answer is actually no so we do very much encourage in house testing for durable infant toddler products so that you're not going out to a lab with a product that is definitely going to fail. And so that you can have confidence in your product but durable infant and durable infant or toddler products must be tested at a CPSC laboratory. So even if you're a small batch manufacturer so that is without exception. So in order to find one of those testing labs. You can visit our website www.cpsc.gov forward slash lab search. Here you can narrow your search by region and by scope. So, when you are looking for laboratory you'll select 16 CFR part 1239 the safety standard for gates and enclosures. And you should see a list of all the laboratories that are accepted to test the standard. As you are aware there's still about nine months before this standard becomes mandatory. At this time there are no laboratories that have applied to be accepted to test to the standard. So, if you have a laboratory that you have a good relationship with you'd like to have your product tested through there. I recommend getting in touch with them making them aware of this updated standard and that they should apply to be accepted to to test for this because at this time we don't have any labs that have that have applied for that acceptance. So if we do have any testing laboratories on the line, you can submit your application to test the standard via our website. And so we accept labs on a test by test basis and they must reapply with CPSC when their accreditation is renewed or at least every two years. So that's in our code of federal regulations as well. We often get questions about the frequency of testing. And of course, anytime that there is a material change, you always must read test your product. So if you've changed the product design, your manufacturing process, if you're sourcing your component parts from a different supplier, all of those things would require complete retesting of the product. Additionally, if there's any change that you know or think could affect the product's ability to comply with these rules, you would also need to retest. And again, if you're manufacturing or if you're importing this product, you must make these retest your product after there's been a material change. So the periodic testing rule, they basically states that you must test your product on one, two or three year intervals depending on the type of testing plan that you have. So the vast majority of our manufacturers and importers just do this every year. They just go out and get their product retested every year. If you do have a production testing plan, you may be able to reduce that to every three years. And if you are using a testing laboratory, laboratory accredited to this standard, you could go to every three years. But again, most manufacturers will just select to do the once per year. So if you want to be on that two year interval, the production testing plan is discussed in 16 CFR 1107.21. This is only possible again if there are no material changes to your product. And as part of this, you must put in writing the process management techniques that have been used, the tests that are being conducted the intervals and measurements to be taken on the number of samples, and explanation describing how these techniques provide a higher degree of assurance of compliance. And then there's additional requirements as well. So you can read about those in the standard. You can also read about those on our FAQ page. But again, if you do want to move to that two year testing plan, you need to have a detailed production testing plan in writing. So if you've been manufacturing children's products, you should be familiar with this children's product certificate or CPC requirement. So all children's products, including gates and enclosures will require CPC. And this is where you will certify in writing that your product is compliant with the applicable safety rules. So you can visit our website here on cpsc.gov forward slash CPC. There we have the seven questions that you would need to answer in your CPC as well as a sample for a children's toy and for children's clothing. We've also created a webinar on certificates of conformity which includes the general certificate of conformity for general use products and CPCs as well. So if you just want a quick summary of what is required in the CPC it is basically these seven things. So first will be a description of the products covered by the certificate. So this includes the product descriptions model numbers, you know numbers. Second is the citation to each CPSC safety rule which you are certifying your product. Third is a gator enclosure. You will need to list at least these four things here the total lead content requirement, lead and patent surface coatings, the small parts regulation and then of course the new standard for gates and closures. The third thing is going to be your importer domestic manufacturer contact information. And the fourth is the contact information for the person maintaining the test records. So the CPC is a summary of information about your product so you're, you will get your testing certificate from the CPSC except that third party lab, and you will summarize some of that information in the CPC here. So this is your date and place of manufacture, the location of testing and the date of test on which the certification is based and then the contact information of the CPSC accepted testing laboratory will go in the last section. Your CPCs must accompany each product or shipment of products covered by this certificate. The CPSC must provide them to distributors and retailers. We don't require that they're provided to the ultimate end consumer, but you just need to be aware that they need to be made available to CPSC and to customs and border protection upon request. I have confirmed that certificates and electronic form are acceptable and they must be created no later than the time of shipment or first distribution within the United States so they don't necessarily need to be printed certificates but they must be readily available and accompany your products from overseas. And I think this might be our last poll question. See if we can get it to come up. Okay, so I've added it to open the poll on Slido so if you are on Slido you should be able to view it. And the question is I received a report from a consumer of my product causing an injury to an adult. What should I do. My answers are do nothing if my product is compliant with all testing labeling and certification requirements I do not need to keep record of consumer injuries. The second option is keep an internal record of this complaint but do not report it outside of the company. And the third is submit a report to CPSC through saferproducts.gov. Right now it looks like we are split about 5050 between 50% of our respondents have said keep an internal record of this complaint but do not report outside of the company. 50% of our participants have said submit a report to CPSC through saferproducts.gov. And no one has responded with do nothing. Great. You can move on to the next slide. And you can click through to the end here. This is the end of it. So I'm very happy that nobody said do nothing that should never be the answer to hearing that your product has injured one of your consumers. The actual correct answer is to submit a report to CPSC through saferproducts.gov. So this is our portal where consumers can report injuries that were caused by products but then also this connects to the business portal where businesses should file section 15 reports when they're made aware of injuries that were caused by products. So submitting a report to saferproducts.gov does not necessarily mean that any sort of action is going to be taken by CPSC or required by your company. It's just a notification of an injury that you were made aware of. You'll notice on this, this product, even though it's a children's product, caused an injury to an adult. So whether injured a child or injured an adult, that's still something that CPSC would like to know about. So you should still report that through our saferproducts.gov portal. And now we have some examples of recalls here. So this is a pressure-mounted gate that posed a full fall hazard because of insufficient pressure to hold the gate in the intended position. And also, you'll see in the recall there, the lower metal bar could be considered a tripping hazard. So this is an example of a gate that was previously recalled before there was the mandatory standard. And here's another example of an entrapment and strangulation hazard to the child because of the V-shaped opening along that top edge. So that partially bound opening had potential to cause an injury. So here's another example of a recall that was completed prior to this standard. So I always recommend if you are producing a new product to search our recalls page, you can visit that by going to www.CPSC.gov forward slash recalls. And you can see issues that people have had in the past with recalls of products. Also, if you do go to saferproducts.gov, we've just updated this website less than a month ago, completely revamped the saferproducts.gov outward facing portal. So you can actually search for consumer complaints there and see some issues that consumers have had with products just to give you an idea of some of the hazards that may be there. So here we have a list of our business resources. And then you can visit our lab search page to find laboratories when we do have laboratories that are accepted to test the standard that can test for you. We also have a desktop reference guide which summarizes some of the helpful references we have for you, saferproducts.gov. And if you haven't used it yet, our regulatory robot tool I think is a very neat, neat product on our page, which asks you a few questions about your product and then it will summarize the mandatory file requirements in place that you would need to comply with and has hyperlinks to all of our resources on the web as well. So here is my email address. If you would like to reach our entire team, you can email SBO at CPSC.gov. We are currently not manning the phones in the office, but you can reach us and leave a voicemail. We will get back to you at 301-504-7945.