Category: Promotional Product Suppliers

Ten Ways to Protect Your Clients and Build Your Business

~ Rick Brenner ~ Leave a comment

When you consult with your customers about their promotions or inquire of your suppliers about their products, do you ask questions about product safety and compliance?  For your customer – Who will the products be given to? Where will they be distributed?  For your supplier – What third-party tests have been performed for these products?  If you’re not asking basic questions like these, you’re missing valuable opportunities to distinguish yourself from your competitors.  More importantly, you could be putting your customers, your distributorship, your suppliers and even the industry at risk.  Yet, putting yourself in a position where you are confident enough to ask the right questions that will protect everyone in the supply chain is a cinch for promotional products professionals.  Here’s a list of ten guidelines that that every responsible member of the industry should master.

Learn the basic product safety laws and regulations that affect the promotional products industry.  The main one is CPSIA, an acronym for the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.  It’s the federal law that regulates children’s products and toys.  If one of your clients has a promotion that involves young children, you must understand how CPSIA applies and what you must verify with your supplier to ensure compliance.  There are other federal laws to consider as well, such as those that apply to industry products that come into contact with food, like water bottles, tumblers, coolers and lunch bags.  Together with hand sanitizer, sunglasses, and first aid kits, these promotional items are governed by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations.  Certain states have regulations as well, such as California’s Proposition 65 and Illinois’ lead law.  There are industry resources to help you learn these basics – educational sessions at industry events and webinars through trade associations to name a few.  You don’t need to know all the technicalities of these laws but you do need to know enough to ask the right questions so you can make informed decisions.  A few hours of product safety training is a great start.

Know your products.  If you’re a supplier, you should know everything you can about each product in your line.  Importers and manufacturers should have technical drawings, a bill of materials (BOM) and performance requirements for each of their products.  These documents comprise the basis of quality control and compliance testing.  Suppliers should perform risk analyses and use and abuse testing when evaluating new products.  Are the products suitable for children?  What ages?  Distributors should ask related questions when selecting products from suppliers.  Has the product been tested by a third-party lab?  Which tests have been conducted?  Does it comply with each state’s safety laws?  What age is it designed for?  Is it a child’s toy?  The more we know about the products we sell the better job we do to protect our clients.

Know your suppliers.  How much do you really know about each of your suppliers?  You can learn a lot from a catalog and website but marketing materials don’t tell you the extent of what goes on behind the scenes.  Does the supplier have a knowledgeable head of compliance?  How does the supplier evaluate new products and vet its factories?  What third-party tests does the supplier commission, how often and for which products?  Does the supplier have an XRF instrument to test products in-house?  What about ink testing?  Are some or all of the supplier’s products compliant as children’s products?  What is the supplier’s policy on Prop 65 compliance?  How will you be indemnified?  These are only examples of the kinds of questions you should be asking each of your suppliers in addition to visiting their headquarters and seeing their operations first hand.

Know your clients.  Each of your clients is unique.  Learn about their differences so you can meet their specific requirements and expectations.  Some companies have testing requirements that exceed applicable regulations.  Others have written social accountability policies for any factory producing a product with their logo.  Companies differ in risk tolerance and rely on you to guide them.  Case in point:  Federal law permits general use products to be sold for use by young children even if the products are not tested, not certified, and even if they contain more lead than allowed for children’s products.  But how would your client feel about handing out a product to children that doesn’t meet children’s product standards?  The more you know about each client’s policies and expectations, the better job you can do to meet their individual needs.

Know the intended audience. When you speak to a client about a promotion, always ask about the target audience – who the products are intended for – and the U.S. states where the products will be distributed.  If the target audience includes children, this should influence your product selection.  Children’s products and toys must meet stringent lead and phthalate requirements, be certified by a third-party lab and carry permanent tracking labels.  Certain U.S. states have additional requirements.  Illinois, for example, has a lead law that exceeds the federal standard.  A best practice for distributors is to highlight on purchase orders to suppliers whether the products are for children and where the products will be distributed.  This will help your supplier verify that your products will be compliant with all applicable regulations.

Know the risks.  Risk is inherent in all that we do whether we are trying a restaurant for the first time, taking advantage of a bargain price, or selecting products blindly from a catalog.  In the promotional products industry, there are product safety risks (will the product hurt anyone), regulatory compliance risks (does the product comply with applicable laws and safety standards), and social accountability risks (could the manufacturing of the product embarrass your client), among others.  No matter what you do, no matter how careful you are, no one can eliminate risk entirely.  Even the most prestigious brands have product failures, recalls and production gaffes.  But you can mitigate risk to a great degree by being aware of risks and making appropriate product and supplier decisions.  Your clients put their most valuable asset in your care—their name and logo—­when they entrust you to select the products that will bear that name.  Treat this responsibility with the care and diligence it deserves.  Brand protection is one of your most sacred responsibilities.

Educate the team.  For most distributors and suppliers, servicing major customers requires a well-organized team effort.  Unless everyone on the team is on the same page, it isn’t likely that you will deliver consistent service, let alone excel.  The same principal applies to product safety and compliance.  The quality of your safety and compliance initiatives will only be as strong as the weakest link.  Take the time to educate everyone on your team in the basics of responsible sourcing.

Stay current.  Even though the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) became effective in August 2008, many of its provisions were phased in gradually and some became progressively more stringent.  At first, third party testing was not required and later it became mandatory.  Originally 600 parts per million (ppm) was the maximum lead allowed in children’s products, then 300 ppm and now 100 ppm.  In addition to phase in rules, the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) continually develops new rules that either modify existing regulations or introduce new ones altogether.  For example, CPSC is currently developing a rulemaking to establish a new federal standard for small, powerful magnet sets which have been sold in the promotional industry as puzzles, sculptures and stress relievers.  To help stay current about CPSC changes, go to http://www.cpsc.gov and sign up for email alerts about rule changes, recalls and other product safety news.  And, in addition to CPSC, there are other federal and state laws to stay abreast of.  For updated news on the entire range of product safety regulation affecting the industry, trade associations and testing labs can be great sources of information.

Instill a Product Safety Culture.  Imagine that one day you decide to start eating nothing but 100% organically grown food.  Think of the challenges you would have at least three times a day for the rest of your life.  What are you going to eat?  Where are you going to buy your food?  Where does that food come from?  How is it grown?  How can you be sure?  Solve that problem for breakfast today and it starts over again at lunch.  Whatever you might have done yesterday to ensure your food supply when you were in Chicago won’t help you at all tomorrow when you’re off to New York.  For you to be successful in this new eating habit, planning in advance for the organic food you are going to eat each day and where you are going to obtain it reliably will have to become second nature, as if it were embedded in your DNA.  And so it is with product safety and compliance.  The kinds of food and ingredient questions you would have to ask every day if you drastically changed your eating habits are the same kinds of questions you should be asking every day to ensure safe and compliant product.  What’s in this product?  Who is going to use it?  Where will it be distributed?  How carefully was it made?  What was it tested for?  Was this shipment tested?  How can I be sure?  Ensuring safe and compliant product is a daily journey, not a destination.  Just like my food example, it requires continuous vigilance and attention, order by order, promotion by promotion.

The more that product safety and compliance becomes second nature and an automatic consideration no matter what client or promotion you’re working on, the more you’ll protect your clients, protect your business and ultimately protect the industry, a responsibility we all have to each other.

This article is scheduled for the October 2013 issue of Wearables Magazine

Updated Toy Safety Standard takes Effect June 12. New Tests Required!

~ Rick Brenner ~ Leave a comment

If you import children’s toys, or if you’re a promotional products supplier with children’s toys in your line, effective tomorrow you’ll need to comply with an update to the mandatory Federal Toy Safety Standard.  Among other changes, this revision (ASTM F963-11) adds limits for the soluble amount of eight metals (antimony, arsenic, lead, barium, cadmium, chromium, mercury, and selenium) permitted in toy substrates.  The change is effective for toys manufactured or imported after June 12, 2012 for children 14 years of age or younger.

The ASTM F963 Toy Safety Standard used to be voluntary.  But in 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) made ASTM F963 a mandatory standard.   At that time, the current version of the Toy Safety Standard was F963‑07 with the “07” signifying the year that the latest revision was adopted.  Since then, CPSC has voted to adopt two newer revisions – one issued in 2008 and the latest in December 2011.  In February 2012, the Commission announced in the Federal Register its decision to adopt ASTM F963-11 effective as of June 12, 2012.

For the moment, the law requires you to comply with every provision of the new standard – including the 2011 changes – but doesn’t require you to use a CPSC certified third-party lab to test for the 2011 changes.  The reason is that the Commission has not yet voted to adopt recently proposed rules for third party laboratories which it published in the Federal Register on May 24, 2012.  Comments on these proposed rules are not due until August 7, 2012.

If you have another reliable way to verify compliance for the F963-11 changes—perhaps by testing with an XRF instrument—you could avoid, until CPSC adopts the new rules, the cost of testing the 2011 updates at a third-party lab.  However, this waiver only applies to the F963-11 changes.  You’ll still need a test from a CPSC certified third-party laboratory for the portions of ASTM F963-11 that are “functionally equivalent” to F963-08.

The risk of third-party testing now for the new requirements of F963-11 is that when the proposed rules are finally adopted by CPSC, the lab you choose may not be accredited for the new requirements and you will have to retest at an approved lab.  In my opinion, this is a very minor risk compared to the risk of not having an independent test confirming that your toy complies with the new requirements.

CPSC addressed this in an FAQ on its website:

In the event that a manufacturer or importer wishes to have its products tested now – in the hope that testing to the -11 version eventually will be accepted by the CPSC – that manufacturer or importer should check with its current CPSC-accepted laboratory to see if they will be applying to the CPSC for acceptance of the -11 version. If so, and if the lab satisfies other conditions spelled out in the draft document, then the Commission likely will accept that testing upon its approval of the new Notice of Requirements. (This is not a guarantee of the Commission’s action, but the Commission traditionally has permitted acceptance of such testing, provided that all the other conditions are satisfied.)

It’s always a treacherous scenario in our industry when the law requires strict compliance with a set of standards but doesn’t require third-party testing.  For one thing, it places an extra burden on distributors – to verify that the toys they’re purchasing are compliant with the new standard if the supplier or factory does not have a third party lab report verifying compliance.

My advice is to not buy any toy that is imported or manufactured after June 12, 2012 unless you get a report from well-known third-party laboratory verifying compliance with all the provisions of ASTM F963-11.

For promotional products distributors who maintain test reports in their files of children’s toys they order frequently, or for those who have children’s toys in company stores or in other co-op programs, be sure to go back to your supplier for an updated test report.

The full text of the FAQ from the CPSC website can be found at http://www.cpsc.gov/info/toysafety/plain.html

Tracking Label Requirement Still Vexes Suppliers and Distributors

~ Rick Brenner ~ Leave a comment

In the four years since the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was signed into law, the promotional products industry has struggled mightily to figure out how to apply it to what we do every day.  Nothing has come easily.  Perhaps because most promotional products don’t start out as children’s products and perhaps because the “toys” we sell are mostly for adults, there always seems to be a “yes, but” when we try to understand CPSIA in the context of the world we live in.

Permanent tracking labels – a CPSIA requirement for children’s products – provides a good example.  The requirement sounds simple but in practice the details aren’t so simple.  Depending on what you sell, where you buy it, who makes it and how you decorate it, the tracking label requirement can be a complex burden.  One thing is certain: each distributor and supplier should develop a rock-solid process for their tracking labels.  This is one provision of CPSIA that could cost you a lot if you get it wrong.

Who is responsible for tracking labels?  The manufacturer of the children’s product.   CPSIA uses the definition for manufacturer from the Consumer Product Safety Act which is “any person who manufacturers or imports a consumer product.”  But it can be more complicated than that.  The way the promotional products business works sometimes there are two manufacturers of a children’s product and both have responsibilities for tracking labels.  If a distributor buys children’s-sized tee-shirts from an apparel wholesaler and then contracts with a local silk screener to personalize them, even though the blank tee shirts have a tracking label from the shirt manufacturer, the distributor, by adding an imprinting process, has taken on the responsibilities of a manufacturer under CPSIA, including the responsibility for a second tracking label.   The first tracking label applies only to the blank tee shirt.  The second tracking label applies to the decoration.  Again, not so simple.

So how do you get it right with tracking labels?  Let’s start by looking at the most straightforward case.  This first example applies primarily to suppliers but also to distributors who import directly:  You contract with one of your overseas factories to produce a fully decorated, CPSIA-compliant children’s product, including a detailed tracking label with all of the required information.  As the order is being produced, your on-site inspector at the factory sends representative samples from the production run to a CPSC-certified laboratory to test for CPSIA compliance.  Then, once you verify compliance, you ship the products to your customer.

So why is this example the most straightforward case?   The example product is a children’s product from day one so there’s no ambiguity there.  The product is produced and decorated by the same manufacturer and then tested as a finished product.  There’s only one company responsible – the importer who contracted for the product – and you have a third party test that applies specifically to the order.  Very clear, very clean.

Next let’s consider a more typical case.  You’re a supplier who imports hundreds of products and stocks them in your warehouse.  You carry an undecorated string backpack that you’ve had tested annually as compliant with CPSIA children’s product standards.  Each time you produce a new batch you include a tracking label inside each bag that ties back to its production run.  You stock thousands of these bags and decorate them in your U.S. factory as you receive orders from distributors. These bags are in dozens of distributor co-op programs, including a large federal program with a child-oriented cartoon imprint that promotes healthy eating habits for first graders.  Since you already have a tracking label in the blank bag do you need a second tracking label each time you decorate an order for that federal program?  No.  Your company imported the bag so the tracking label you attached overseas when the bag was manufactured still applies.   However, when working with pre-applied tracking labels like this CPSC has advised that you should add a date code in a discrete location on the product each time you decorate a new order.  It’s also a good idea to flag in your computer system the orders that are specifically for children.  That will save you money if the product is later involved in a recall by enabling you to narrow down the problem and identify the specific products to be recalled.

Consider this scenario:  You produce and import 150,000 bags in January, all in the same production run and all with the same tracking label.  The bags arrive by ocean freight in March and you stock them in your U.S. warehouse.  You decorate them over the next several months as you receive orders and by October you’ve shipped the last of them.   The following April you receive a call from an investigator at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) about that federal healthy food program.  It turns out that a consumer advocacy group tested a few of the bags and found high levels of lead in the decoration.  Your lawyer confers with the Commission and ultimately recommends that you initiate a “voluntary” recall.  But how many bags do you have to include in the recall?  You decorated and shipped 10,000 children’s bags per month for the federal program in May, June, July, August and September.  They all have the same imprint and the same tracking label.  Do you have to recall all 50,000?  What if the faulty ink arrived at your factory in September and was only involved in the final 500 pieces you produced?  It would be a painful remedy to have to recall 50,000 if the problem was limited to 500.  In the end, the final tally will depend largely on your labeling, documentation, testing and record keeping.   If you have date codes for each production lot of bags and samples of each lot of ink you place into production it could significantly cut your exposure.  The more you know, the more you can document, the better off you’ll be.  If all you have is one tracking number covering five months of production you will have no way to tell consumers how to differentiate the high-lead bags from the earlier ones.

In this example, the high lead came from the decoration.  That raises an important and related issue – developing a system to test and document the decorating materials you use.  In this example, we noted that the factory received a batch of high lead ink in September.  But if you do not have a system for testing or saving samples from each batch of ink, how could you later narrow down the problem to the ink you received in September?

The final example is one that is extremely common for distributors – the case I referred to earlier where a tee shirt is manufactured by one company and decorated by another.  Say that the children’s-sized tee shirts were manufactured by Gildan.   Gildan has no responsibility for imprinting done later so the original tracking label has no relevance if the problem is in the decoration.  A second tracking label is the only way you can trace those tee shirts if there turned out to be high lead in the imprint.   What about the unique combination of the original tracking label and the imprint?  Could that substitute for a second tracking label?  By itself, no, because it doesn’t identify the “manufacturer” (in this case, the distributor who contracted for the imprinting) or any of the other date and batch information that CPSIA requires of tracking labels.  Just like suppliers, distributors who decorate product should set up a good in-house system to verify that their subcontractors have current third-party tests for the inks and other materials they use (heat transfers might contain glue or other materials), to assign tracking numbers, to verify compliance and most important, keep good documentation for all of this.

As for the tracking label, there is no one specific required layout.  The law requires that the label include enough information for the purchaser or recipient of the product to trace back to the manufacturer, to identify when and where the product was produced and to “ascertain” production information including as the batch or lot.  Some manufacturer/importers provide this information on a detailed tracking label.  Others include a web site and a code that reveals the tracking information.  The way you format your tracking label will of course be dependent on the space available on each product.  Regardless of how you do the label, it’s a good idea to develop an internal system to maintain records for each production run of children’s products, of the tracking numbers you issue and the related testing documentation. That information will be enormously valuable if the product is ever involved in a recall.   The law doesn’t specifically require you to create such a system but an August 2009 policy statement by CPSC regarding the tracking label section of CPSIA states “the Commission believes that compliance with this Section generally will require that manufacturers have in place a reasonable means to ascertain detailed production information, including the means to distinguish products made from different factories, made with different components, at different times or have other material differences that make the product non-identical from products.”

Like it or not, CPSIA has thrust many new responsibilities upon companies in our industry who produce children’s products.  The more that distributors and suppliers integrate these new responsibilities into the culture and daily practices of their companies, the better job they will do in complying with the law and the less they will risk an expensive and embarrassing fiasco.   And beyond pure compliance, conscientious and high quality business practices like these have a major impact on maintaining the confidence of major corporations in our industry, something that none of us can afford to take for granted.

Key Points and Suggested Best Practices to Consider

For Suppliers

  • Flag in your computer system the children’s product orders you produce.  If any non-compliant product or decorating material slips into your supply chain or factory, being able to identify the children’s products orders you produced will help you limit the scope of any potential recall.
  • When you produce or decorate a children’s product order, include a permanent tracking label on the product that complies with CPSIA.  Store the tracking numbers in your computer with a link to the order you’re producing.
  • If you include a tracking label on blank but CPSIA-compliant product when it is manufactured be sure to record those tracking numbers in your computer system with a link to the particular order you’re producing.  One way is to develop a system for your warehouse team to scan the tracking labels when they pick product for each order.  The better your documentation the easier time you will have if there is a recall.  And when you use that blank stock for a children’s order, print a date code in a discrete location on the product to help you later limit the scope of decoration-related recalls.
  • If you purchase a children’s product from another importer or manufacturer and it bears their tracking label, and then you decorate the product, you will need to print a second tracking label on the product that applies to your decoration.
  • Consider keeping a sample of each completed children’s product order to help you test and narrow the scope of any future recall.
  • Develop a system to test and document the lots of ink and other materials you use for decorating.  Consider keeping samples of each lot.  If there’s a problem later the documentation will help you narrow the scope of a recall.

For Distributors

  • If you purchase a blank children’s product and contract to have it decorated be sure your decorator has current third party tests to prove CPSIA compliance of all the inks and other materials used in the decoration.   Then instruct the printer to print tracking information including your company name, production date, production location and batch information.  The label must enable end buyers and/or recipient of the promotional product to track back to you.  Store the tracking numbers and all testing documentation in your file for each children’s product order you produce.

CPSC Policy Statement – Tracking Labels

Compliance is Not Enough for Safe Promotional Products

~ Rick Brenner ~ Leave a comment

If attendance at ICPHSO’s 2012 Annual Meeting and Training Symposium is any indication, then the promotional products industry should feel proud of the strides it is making in product safety awareness.  From scant industry attendance just four years ago, this year’s symposium, held earlier this month in Orlando, had strong participation by PPAI, by QCA, and by at least a dozen major promotional products suppliers and distributors.  But while progress is encouraging, the workshops at ICPHSO made clear that product safety is much more than test reports and CPSIA compliance.

ICPHSO is an acronym for the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization.  It is the preeminent International product safety organization and is comprised of accomplished compliance professionals from all over the world – manufacturers, retailers, government regulators, attorneys, testing labs, standards developers, academia and consumer advocates.  Chances are, if you’re selling promotional products to a major corporation, its product safety team participates in ICPHSO.  More than 600 attendees made the pilgrimage to Orlando this year to share their knowledge, to learn from their peers, to network with like-minded colleagues and to mingle with government regulators from countries around the globe.

This year’s major topic was manufacturing and the challenges of producing safe and compliant products consistently in factories all over the world.  Traceability and supply chain transparency was a common theme in several presentations.  It was comforting to hear that even the largest companies struggle with this issue just as many importers do in our industry.  Jennifer Weaver, Director of Quality Assurance at Under Armour, noted that while she closely supervises Under Armour’s factories, her company does not even attempt to trace production from suppliers of items such as buttons, zippers and seams.  The consensus seemed to be that each manufacturer/importer must develop a plan based on a risk assessment of its own particular products.

While most product safety initiatives in the promotional industry are focused on compliance – CPSIA, FDA, Prop 65 and similar regulations – ICPHSO has always taken a deeper approach to consumer product safety.  Several experts spoke of the importance of avoiding product related injuries by building in safety from the beginning – by designing out safety defects at the product development stage and by considering the foreseeable abuse and misuse of a product as well as its intended use.   Another important topic focused on the importance of recall preparedness – having a well-practiced plan in place for the inevitable situations where unsafe products are discovered after a product goes to market.  Time is always of the essence in such cases, including the obligation to report to CPSC.  One of the most impressive presentations of the week was by Jennifer Thompson of Costco who explained the sophistication, speed and effectiveness with which Costco implements recalls and notifies customers who have purchased recalled products.

So while we should be proud as an industry of the product safety strides we are making – through PPAI’s Product Responsibility Action Group (PRAG), through QCA, and through individual company initiatives – the ICPHSO presentations illustrate how product safety has to become part of the culture of all industry participants if we’re truly to protect our industry.  For example, how many promotional products are imported without a formal risk assessment or without evaluation for product safety hazards?  In some cases these tests can seem unaffordable but the risk of not testing can be even more expensive.  A few years ago our product development team was considering a spa kit for our line – one that contained a variety of aloe-type skin creams and lotions.  The kit would have sold for less than $10.  In performing our risk assessment we asked a well-known cosmetics lab to verify that the lotions were of the quality that the Asian factory contended and that they did not contain any harmful ingredients or toxins.  The lab quoted $28,000 for the tests.  This may be a normal cost for a major cosmetics company but for most of our industry it isn’t a reasonable value proposition, particularly when the supplier has no idea if the product will even sell.  Accordingly, we did not add the spa kit to our line.  Now this week, in an unrelated case, the FDA has issued a dire warning about dangerous levels of poisonous mercury found in a variety of imported skin creams and antiseptic soaps or lotions found in at least seven states.  Just imagine how this could have impacted our industry if these poisonous lotions had been purchased through a promotional products distributor and given away in a spa kit by a major corporation.

So given the practical and realistic resources of most companies in the promotional products industry what can importers do to ensure that the products we are selling are not only compliant but also truly safe?  Here is a good starting list:

1)     Appoint someone in your company as product safety lead.  Send that person to product safety training such as a class offered by a major testing lab or the Certificate in Product Safety Management program offered by Saint Louis University.   Your designee should develop and implement a risk assessment process, maintain your product safety documentation and act as the point person if your company is ever involved in a recall.  Once these basic processes are in place, take the initiative to the next level.  Develop a comprehensive quality manual for all of your supply chain standard operating procedures and also develop a recall preparedness plan.

2)     As a supplier, manufacturer or importer, perform a basic risk assessment before adding any product to your line or before ordering it for your customer.  Even without independent testing, much can be done to minimize risk and promote safety.  Evaluate how well the product is constructed, the quality of materials, whether it will shatter when dropped, if it has sharp edges, choke or bite hazards as well as other foreseeable risks. Obtain a bill of materials for the product and identify any potentially hazardous materials or components.  Subject the product to reasonable use and abuse testing even if you have to test it yourself and be sure to consider the foreseeable misuse of the product, particularly by children.

3)     Test the product to simulate how well it performs.  If it is a bag, for example, how much weight will it bear reliably before the fabric, seams or straps give way.   Are there embellishments like buttons, grommets, labels, labels or hooks?  If so, how securely are they fastened?  If they break off will any sharp edges remain?  Is there any chrome or electroplating?  Is the quality high enough that it won’t peel or curl leaving knife like edges?

4)     Investigate whether the product, its components or its packaging is subject to any state or Federal regulation.   In addition to CPSC regulation, many promotional products are also regulated by the FDA, including hand sanitizer, first aid kits, sunglasses and food contact materials such as drinkware.  If the product is regulated be sure you have current (within a year) third party tests showing that the product complies with all of the regulatory requirements of current law.

5)     Consider identifying products in your line that contain toxins.  BPA, lead, phthalates and cadmium have all come under scrutiny by Congress, by CPSC, and by FDA but are still allowed by law for most products.  Some of your customers or your customer’s customer may have policies against purchasing products containing these substances.  An alternate idea is to identify the products in your line that are lead free, phthalate free, cadmium free and BPA free and note this in your catalog, advertisements and on your web site.

6)     Determine if any special labeling is required to warn against any hazards, to note any stress limits and to identify the appropriate age for the product.

This is certainly not a comprehensive list but it’s a good start and would go a long way to raising the bar for product safety in the promotional products industry. In the months ahead, PRAG will be working towards proposing a similar suite of “best practices” for product safety that all industry participants can rally around.  The more that all of us do to promote product safety – compliant products and safe products – the more we do to protect our clients and our livelihood.

(To learn more about ICPHSO and its programs, visit www.ICPHSO.org)

Loopholes in Product Safety Law Put Compliance Burden on You

~ Rick Brenner ~ Leave a comment

You sell a product to a Little League for distribution to seven year olds.  Would your client expect the product to comply with Federal children’s product standards?

The answer, I suspect, is a resounding “yes” just as you would expect the toys you buy for your own kids to be able to pass the Federal Toy Safety Standard and the food you purchase to be able to pass FDA food standards.

Unfortunately for the promotional products industry, things are not that simple.  The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) – the Federal law that governs children’s products – includes a basic definition for children’s products that is ambiguous at best.  The agency that enforces this Act, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), came up with an enhanced definition that introduces new issues as it tries to clarify the original.  Take the case of a simple water bottle destined for a second grade Little League team.  If the name of the team is imprinted in a plain type style the bottle is considered a general use item – not a children’s product – because CPSC says it appeals to all ages including the 7 year old Little Leaguers.   Most importantly, general use items don’t have to comply with children’s product standards.   But the identical water bottle decorated with a Winnie the Pooh type character – something that would only appeal to the young children – is considered a children’s product and has to comply with the CPSIA standards.  Same bottle.  Same kids.  Different decoration.  One has to comply, one doesn’t.

Say that your order was for the plain type version – the one that doesn’t have to comply with CPSIA.  And say that the plastic lid of the bottle you sell the Little League happens to contain 1,000 parts per million (ppm) of lead – 10 times the CPSIA limit for children’s products.  Now imagine that some consumer advocacy group gets hold of one of those bottles, tests it and then tells the league it intends to send a press release to the media that Little League is distributing lead-laden bottles to seven year olds.  Do you think the league administrators or the parents would be comforted or placated by your explanation that the product is a general use item that doesn’t have to comply with children’s product standards?  Not likely.

One reason for these challenges in our industry is that most promotional products are not “children’s products” as blank, undecorated products.  Non-children’s blanks only become children’s products if they are decorated with a juvenile design and even then only if the products are “mainly” for children 12 and under and have declining appeal to older kids.

Suppliers deal with this blanks-that-could-become-children’s-products challenge individually.  Some test all of their products to children’s product standards, some indicate on their websites the specific products which have been tested and for some you may have to make a call to find out which products are compliant and have been tested.    The most important point is that the burden is on you to find this information out before you place your order, to avoid selecting a product which has not been tested as compliant.

In summary, when kids are part of the audience for the products you sell, my advice is to ignore the loopholes in CPSIA and insist on choosing products that have been tested by a third party lab as compliant with children’s product regulations.    Just keep reminding yourself, “If children are involved, would my client expect the products I’m recommending to have been tested to children’s product standards?”  Let that be your guide and you’ll never go wrong.

Time to Take a Closer Look at the Test Reports in Your Files

~ Rick Brenner ~ Leave a comment

With the deadline for mandatory third party lead testing less than two months away, now would be a very good time to take a closer look at the third-party test reports in your files. There’s a good chance that upon closer inspection you might find that for certain products the reports you’re relying on for compliance might not be very reliable.

In the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), Congress mandated that an accredited third party laboratory must test children’s products before they can be distributed in commerce. Testing for lead in paint or surface coating has been required since December of 2008. Testing for lead in substrate will take effect on January 1, 2012.

So what are the reliability concerns I’m raising?

While some question the accuracy of the tests – by showing inconsistent results from one lab to the next—that isn’t the issue I see. My concern is more serious—that some of the test reports you receive may not even be for the same product that you’re selling. In those cases, the reports are not reliable and provide a false sense of security to you and to your customers.

Here’s one way that happens:  Instead of ordering tests for their own products, U.S. importers often turn to their overseas factories for testing. But some of these factories—particularly ones that supply similar versions of their products to multiple customers in the US—may try to mitigate the cost by testing only a small subset of their products—sometimes only one SKU out of a varied line of products. Instead of testing the actual products as produced for each of their customers, they send a generic version of their product to a lab and then they give these test results to every customer who requests a test report. I’ve seen tests like this more times than I can count.

So what’s the problem with this practice?

Well, there’s no problem with a U.S. importer having their overseas factory order the testing from an accredited lab as long as the tested version of the product is exactly the same in all material respects as the product they’re selling—same item, same finish, same color, same trim, same design, same paint and substrate materials, same raw material supplier, and the same factory. But that’s often not the case.

The more common scenario is that the generic version is similar but different from your product. It might be a different material or color, have different trim details or include additional features from the generic version.  Any of these differences requires a separate third party test.

Another possibility is that the report you have is for a completely different product from yours. Overseas factories don’t always test every product they produce.  I’ve seen cases where a factory will respond to a test request by sending any report they have in their files.  Unless the US firm receiving the report is trained in what to look for, these reports are often accepted as is and passed along to customers.

So how can you tell if your report is really for your product?

  1. Is the product named in the report exactly the same way as it is listed on the web or in the catalog where you found it?  If your product is a Bonzo HT-341 in midnight blue, does the test report say Bonzo HT-341 in midnight blue?  Be wary of reports with generic product descriptions like “Plastic Bottle” or “Tote Bag” and few product details.
  2. Does the test report include a picture of the product?  Is the picture exactly the same as your product and does it include your color?  The best test reports include detailed photographs of the actual products tested.
  3. Look for the name of the company who ordered the test. Is it the same as the company you are buying the product from or is it a company you’ve never heard of?  There’s no problem with tests ordered by overseas factories if they’re for your actual product but be wary of reports ordered by factories for generic versions of their products.

These tips are just a few of the basics in evaluating test reports. I’ve listed several others in my September 30th article If You Sell Promotional Products, Learn to Read a Test Report. And if you’re a PPAI member, check out the November 2nd webinar entitled How to Read a Test Report. It is archived on PPAI’s website.

Test reports are an important part of your due diligence to ensure that the products you’re selling comply with applicable law. Your customers are relying on the integrity of the reports you provide. Take this opportunity to go through your files to verify that you have current test reports for the products you’re selling and that the reports really are for your specific products.

Distributor to Supplier: Is this Product OK for Children?

~ Rick Brenner ~ Leave a comment

I received a call last week from a distributor concerned about an order she had recently shipped through an industry supplier for a children’s event. The distributor told me she had inquired of the supplier’s customer service rep if the product was OK for children but was now wondering what else she should have done. Here is a capsule of what I recommended.

Start by asking for the product’s General Certification of Conformity (GCC) as well as its most recent test reports. A GCC is required by federal law for every consumer product subject to any rule or regulation enforced by CPSC. Regardless of what the test report says, the GCC is the best way to find out if the supplier considers the product as a “children’s product.” If the supplier does not, even if the test report passes CPSIA standards, it is a red flag that the supplier might not be monitoring each production run to children’s product standards.

Recommendation 1 (Children’s Product): If you sell a product that you know is intended for children, be sure that the supplier acknowledges through the GCC that it is a children’s product. Then, if something goes wrong later, you won’t risk being in the position of the supplier saying “we didn’t know it was for children and we never said it was a children’s product.”

So how do you find out from the GCC if the supplier considers the product a “children’s product?”  You do so by examining the section of the GCC listing the applicable regulations. CPSIA requires the importer or domestic manufacturer to list every CPSC-enforced rule that applies to the product. If the supplier doesn’t have a GCC for the product, or if the section noting the applicable rules is blank, it means that the supplier is not acknowledging that the product is a children’s product or a children’s toy.

If the item is certified for use as a children’s product you will see at least two rules listed. The first is CPSIA lead-in-substrate, sometimes called total lead. The second is lead-in-surface coating, sometimes called 16 CFR 1303. Lead in substrate refers to lead in the material that the product is made of. Lead in surface coating refers to lead in any painted surfaces or in the imprint.

If the item is certified as a children’s toy you will see at least two more rules in addition to the two lead provisions. One is the mandatory toy safety standard called ASTM F963. That used to be a voluntary standard but Congress made it mandatory when they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The second toy related rule applies to chemicals referred to as “phthalates.” CPSIA prohibits the sale of children’s toys with concentrations of more than .1% of any of the phthalates DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIDP and DnOP.

Recommendation 2 (Children’s Toy): Same concept as recommendation 1. If you sell a product that you know is likely to be used a children’s toy, be sure the supplier acknowledges through the GCC that it is a children’s toy.

The GCC requires other information you should note as well. First, make sure that the product identified on the GCC is exactly the same as they one you’re buying. Second, look for the name of the U.S. importer or domestic manufacturer certifying compliance of the product.  Is it the name of the supplier you’re ordering from?  If not – perhaps because the supplier bought the product from a local wholesaler – is it a company you know and are comfortable with? The name on the GCC is the party certifying compliance – the party legally responsible if something goes wrong – and ultimately the party you’re entrusting with your client’s logo. And if this isn’t challenging enough, if the supplier buys a blank from an importer and then decorates the product, you need two GCCs – one for the product and one for the decoration.

Recommendation 3 (Responsible party): Look at the GCC for the party certifying compliance. If it is not the supplier you’re buying the product from then learn who the importer is and whether it is someone you feel is reliable. Also, in that circumstance, find out if the decoration is to be applied by the importer or someone else – your supplier or a sub contractor. If the answer is “someone else” you’ll need a separate GCC for the decoration.

The next important point relates to testing. The GCC requires the date and place where the product was tested for each regulation cited on the GCC and it requires the identification of any third-party laboratory on whose testing the certification depends. Look at the test reports you received and be sure they correspond to exactly what you see on the GCC. The lab name, test date and tests listed should match one for one with the same information noted on the GCC.

Recommendation 4 (Testing): I have written previously on the topic of how to read test reports to be sure your product complies as well as on the limitations of these reports. Review these articles at http://rickbrenner.com and keep them handy for reference. In a nutshell, be sure you have a current test report from a CPSC-certified third party laboratory, that the report is for the identical product, SKU number and color that you ordered, that it includes legible photographs of the product, and that it certifies compliance with every regulation identified on the GCC. You should also be sure that the test report is based on the most current version of the law. A passing grade from June 2011 doesn’t necessarily mean that the product passes the new lead threshold that took effect in August 2011.

There are a few other things to note as well:

  • A separate GCC is required for every production run – indicating the manufacture date. Be sure that that the GCC you receive is specific to the product you’ve received.
  • Ask your supplier to confirm that the product you are receiving is being manufactured in the same factory where the tested product was manufactured, that there have been no changes in the design or bill of materials since the test and that the tested product was produced from the same raw materials as your production pieces. If not, you should insist that your production pieces be tested.
  • It is best to communicate directly with your supplier’s compliance department or the supplier’s person responsible for compliance. Product safety laws are complicated and evolving. The people most likely to know the most are those who deal with compliance every day. My recommendation is to deal with suppliers who are knowledgeable about these product safety and compliance matters and who provide you with direct phone and email access to get your questions answered.
  • This article applies specifically to the children’s product provisions in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). There are other federal product safety regulations and there are several state regulations. PPAI has developed an excellent tool called Turbo Test to help distributors and suppliers determine the regulations that may apply to a wide range of products in the industry and PPAI also has a relationship with a third party laboratory that is available to advise members. Also, there are many attorneys whose practices include a specialty in product safety legislation.

Prime Sample GCC

CPSC Sample Format – GCC   (Note: This link also includes an FAQ from the Commission about GCCs)

Sell Your Strengths, Respect Your Competitors

~ Rick Brenner ~ Leave a comment

Raise your hand if you like negative campaign ads.

No hands? I’m not surprised. It’s hard to imagine that anyone does. They’re ugly, depressing and usually twist truths out of context.

Sure, I know they’re designed to put doubts in voters heads – like crafty litigators who say something inadmissible in court even if the judge tells the jury to ignore what they just heard.

But isn’t the objective in sales to get our customers to vote for us, not against our competitors?

Your prospects and customers can buy many of the same products or services you sell from a million other people.  But they can only get you from you. That’s your differentiator. Your creativity. Your integrity. Your enthusiasm. Your reliablity. Your follow up. Your experience. In the precious few minutes of face time you get with your clients and prospects don’t you want them to fall in love with you, to learn how good you are, and all the ways that you can meet their needs? If you really are better than your competitor, if your product or service is truly a better value, that should come shining through without disparaging your competitor.

I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t ever mention your competition.  If you’re being asked to meet a competitor’s price on a bag that’s half the weight or size or quality of yours, then of course you should do a point by point comparison.  Product and service comparisons are often part of any good buyer’s due diligence.  But respect your competitor and do it ethically and accurately.

There are lots of good examples of companies who have been able to effectively tout their strengths and their competitors weaknesses in a single message.  Think of Avis’ “We Try Harder” campaign against market leader Hertz.  Or the campaign of another number two, the spectacularly successful Apple  “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” campaign showing how easily their cool guy got things done versus the nerdy and kludgy PC.   Classy.  Effective.  Respectful.

Both of these campaigns are actually complimenting their competition.  If Hertz and PCs weren’t beating the pants off of Avis and Apple in market share then neither one would have spent so many millions focusing on them.

Complimenting your competition is often a great way to win the respect and appreciation of your prospect.  You’re saying, “You did a good job in selecting that company.” Certainly you’ll want to point out what you do differently or product categories where your company shines against the competitor.  But you’ve respected your competitor in the process and your customer will appreciate it.

I recently had a conversation with the compliance manager of a major distributor who was surveying suppliers about their product safety programs.  She told me some information about a major competitor that I knew wasn’t true.  I could have just moved to the next subject but I didn’t.  I told her that I didn’t think the information she had was correct and I gave her the email address of the CEO of that supplier to get it clarified.  Then I emailed the CEO myself to give him an opportunity to get it fixed.  Crazy?  I don’t think so. First of all, it was the right thing to do.  Second, sooner or later this situation is going to pay dividends.  It’s a small world we live in, particularly in the promotional products industry, and to a borrow an old cliche, what goes around, comes around.  People appreciate honesty and especially when they know it is potentially to your disadvantage.  At that point you become a trusted advisor, which is the most coveted position you can have with a customer.

Sell your strengths. Respect your competitors. And remember this: The most successful among us got that way because they had the best value proposition for their customers. Focus on that and you’ll never have to worry about your competitors.