ComplyMyImport guide

CPC requirements for US importers

For a children's product manufactured outside the United States, the importer is generally responsible for issuing the Children's Product Certificate, or CPC. The certificate states that the product complies with each applicable children's product safety rule and must be supported by appropriate evidence.

When is a CPC required?

A product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger may require a CPC when it is subject to a CPSC-enforced children's product safety rule. Classification is product-specific. Intended age, marketing, foreseeable use, dimensions, materials, and design can affect the result.

Do not assume that every item sold near children's products has identical requirements. Record the product facts and the version of the rules used to reach the applicability decision.

What information must the CPC contain?

CPSC guidance identifies seven core elements:

• A precise identification of the covered product
• Each applicable children's product safety rule
• The certifying domestic manufacturer or importer
• The person maintaining supporting test records
• The date and place of manufacture
• The date and place of testing
• Each third-party CPSC-accepted laboratory that performed testing

The details must be accurate enough to connect the certificate to the product, production, and supporting reports. A generic product family name may be insufficient when models or variants have different materials or evidence.

What evidence supports certification?

Importers commonly maintain complete laboratory reports, product and sample identifiers, factory details, manufacturing dates, bills of materials, approved artwork, and records of design or sourcing changes. Children's-product testing generally must come from a third-party laboratory accepted by CPSC for the applicable facility-specific scope.

The certificate is not issued by the laboratory, supplier, marketplace, or compliance-software provider. The responsible importer must review the evidence and issue the CPC. ComplyMyImport can organize source-linked fields and prepare a draft, but an authorized customer representative must approve it.

Build a repeatable review

Before approval, verify that every cited rule has supporting evidence, every report covers the exact product, and dates and locations agree across records. Resolve discrepancies rather than copying the newest value into the certificate.

This page provides general educational information, not legal advice. Confirm current requirements through CPSC and qualified counsel.

Official source

• CPSC Children's Product Certificate guidance: cpsc.gov/cpc