Although the act passed by American House of Representatives is only draft, instead of formal law, it reflects the new trend of America’s toy regulations: mandatory.

America’s toy technical regulations are divided into two big types: one is mandatory standard. The 16th part (16CFR) constituted by Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which has legal status. Those who violate it would be punished. The other one is voluntary standard- ASTM F963 Toy Safety, published by American Society For Testing And Materials. It is one of the most important toy safety standards in America and also has great influence in international world. The main technology contains mechanical and physical safety, the safe performance of combustion, chemical toxicity safety, electricity safety, microbiological safety and so on. It also includes CPSC 16CFR technical requirements. ASTM has been amended for several times and the latest edition is ASTM F963-07, which is launched in Mar. 2007.

It is worth noting that, obviously, America now trends to constitute mandatory regulations of toy technology. The act passed by House of Representatives hints that ASTM will turn into a mandatory standard from voluntary one. A Senator advices that prevailing toy testing standard should be changed into a mandatory one. █