NY to Enforce Stricter Regulations on Children’s Products

February 11, 2020 | New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state assembly have come to an agreement to amend New York’s A6296A/S501B state legislation, creating a new chemical disclosure and restriction program for children’s products.

“While progress was made to improve this legislation, it’s important to note that this bill still remains out of step with federal toy safety standards that already position children’s products as the safest consumer products in the home,” said Matthew Lenz, director of state government affairs at The Toy Association. “We are hopeful that the Department of Environmental Conservation will prioritize consistency with federal standards and similar laws in others states to ensure safe and fun products can continue to be sold in New York.”

The new law will not evaluate the safety of products despite claims that it will make children’s products safer and could impact many companies’ ability to sell in New York State because of the undue cost and the unfeasibility of the requirements. Here is what we know:

1. Under the law, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will promulgate a list of chemicals of concern within two years and the bill contains a list of chemicals that should be considered by the department. Within 12 months of a chemical being identified as a chemical of concern, manufacturers will be required to disclose the use of that chemical. Rules and regulations will be put forth by the Department.
2. The bill creates a category of high-priority chemicals that will be reviewed periodically to determine if such chemical should be subject to a prohibition and manufacturers which use high-priority chemicals in their products will be required to notify retailers that the chemical is contained within a product.


3. The bill will also create a children's product safety council that will advise DEC on additional chemicals that should be added to a list of high-priority chemicals and chemicals that should be prohibited from use in a children's product based on the potential for exposure to such chemical.

Additional information will be shared with Toy Association members as it becomes available. For any additional questions, please contact Matthew Lenz.