There’s new meaning behind the furniture tag “Do Not Remove Under Penalty of Law.”

Effective Aug. 14, the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) requires all labels on children’s products (designated for age 12 and younger) to contain: the manufacturer of the product, the location and date of manufacture, and the batch or run number. These labels must also now be permanent. (cpsc.gov)

And that’s where the problem lies. Technically, the standard hangtag or adhesive label is no longer sufficient, but the Consumer Product Safety Commission has yet to provide guidance on this issue. In the interim, manufacturers have been told by CPSC to “use their best judgment.”

One suggestion, by the American Home Furnishings Alliance, is to look at the ASTM requirement for permanent bunk bed labels: “paper or non-paper labels that cannot be removed without the use of tools or solvents, or which cannot be removed without tearing the label into pieces or damaging the surface of the product.”

The requirement extends to all children’s products, both domestic and imported.

Is this feasible for your type of product? Do you foresee a bottleneck in the shipping area? Will you need to institute additional procedures or equipment in order to comply? Any suggestions you can share with others? Send in your comments.