New draft Safety Standard for Batteries

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released a draft safety standard for batteries.

This new Standard establishes rules for performance and notification requirements for batteries and consumer products containing batteries.

To eliminate or adequately reduce the risk of injury from ingestion of button cell or coin batteries by children 6 years old and younger, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a proposal to establish performance requirements for battery compartments on consumer products that contain, or are designed to use, one or more button cell or coin batteries.

Products covered by the proposed Standard are different kinds of batteries, packaging thereof, and equipment for children and toys in general. As such, the current draft also requires warning labels on the packaging of button cell or coin batteries, as  well  as  on  the packaging,  battery  compartments,  and  accompanying  instructions  and  manuals  of consumer products containing button cell or coin batteries.

Additionally, manufacturers and importers of such products are required to notify consumers of performance and technical data related to the safety of such batteries. This information includes manufacture date and other manufacturer information, battery type, chemistry, and nominal voltage, as well as safety information.

Lastly, consumer products falling under the scope of the Standard must be tested and certified as compliant with the rules. These include “any consumer or designed to use one or more button cell or coin batteries, regardless of whether such batteries are intended to be replaced by the consumer or are included with the product or sold separately”.

The Draft Standard is currently open for comment and may be adapted accordingly. A date of adoption and entry into force has not yet been established.

The text of the standard can be consulted HERE.