To: Children’s product manufacturers, retailers, and associations
From: The Minnesota Department of
Commerce
Subject: Regulation of
children’s products and toys
Date: July 31, 2015
I. Background and Purpose
The purpose of this Notice is to remind manufacturers and retailers of children’s products and toys of their ongoing obligation to comply with Minnesota law, including those requirements that go into effect on August 1, 2015 [Minnesota
Laws 2013 Chapter 58 and 71]. The Minnesota Department of Commerce (Commerce), as the state agency charged with regulating children’s products and toys, urges all manufacturers and retailers to understand and comply with their responsibilities regarding children’s products and toy safety.
II. Key Prohibitions and New Regulations Effective August 1, 2015
This Notice provides information relating to obligations
under Minnesota Statutes § § 325F.174-175 and 325F.176-178.
Effective August 1, 2015, retailers are banned from offering for sale in Minnesota certain children’s products, including food containers, that contain formaldehyde or bisphenol-A.
This is in addition to the existing ban effective August 1, 2014, banning manufacturers from selling certain children’s products containing formaldehyde or bisphenol-A in Minnesota.
III. Other Information
This Notice also provides information relating to certain obligations of Minnesota’s Safe Toys Act (Safe Toys Act, 1973), Minnesota Statutes § § 325F.08-325F.17. This Notice does not include all of the requirements under the Safe Toys Act.
Pursuant to the Safe Toys Act, all toys and children’s products banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) are automatically banned under Minnesota law.
To sign up for recall notices please visit:
-
US Consumer Product Safety Commission Recalls: With jurisdiction over 15,000 types of consumer products in and around the home, including children’s products and toys: http://www.recalls.gov/cpsc.html
-
US Government Recalls: A “one-stop shop” including consumer products, motor vehicles, boats, food, medicine, cosmetics and environmental products: http://www.recalls.gov
For more detailed information about responsibilities of retailers and manufacturers of children’s products and toys, please visit Commerce’s website: http://mn.gov/commerce/consumers/toy-safety/.
Please disseminate this information to your network. Thank you in advance for your assistance and partnership to ensure that Minnesota’s children have access to safe products.
If you have questions, please contact the Department at 651-539-1500.
| 
