ASTM Toy Safety Standard F963-17 Published; Copies Available for Toy Association Members

August 29, 2017 | The Toy Association is alerting members that an updated 2017 version of ASTM F963: Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety has been published by ASTM International.

ASTM F963-17 includes critical language that was inadvertently missing from the 2016 edition related to the requirements for “projectile” toys. Toy Association staff and members, along with ASTM staff, met with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) earlier this year to voice concerns regarding the omission, resulting in an “enforcement discretion letter” issued by the CPSC, stating that the agency would enforce the standard as it was intended to be written until the correct language could be inserted in a “-17” edition.

The 2017 version of the toy safety standard is being issued to correct the error and to make several other smaller editorial corrections to the 2016 version.

As previously reported, the revised ASTM F963-16: Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety was published in October 2016 and became mandatory consumer product safety rule on April 30, 2017. As outlined in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), the latest “-17” edition will become mandatory 180 days after ASTM notifies the CPSC of the revision unless, within 90 days after receiving that notice, the Commission notifies ASTM that it has determined that the proposed revision does not improve the safety of toys.

Manufacturers, importers, and retailers use the standard to design and sell products that comply with laws such as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which mandates that all toys sold in the U.S., regardless of where they are made, comply with ASTM F963.

ASTM members who subscribe to online standards updates can receive a copy of the revised standard through their ASTM online account. The Toy Association is also offering its member companies one complimentary copy of the revised standard upon request. Additional copies are available for purchase at www.ASTM.org.

Technical questions about ASTM F963 may be directed to Joan Lawrence, The Toy Association’s senior vice president of standards and regulatory affairs and chair of the ASTM F15.22 Subcommittee on Toy Safety.