CPSC Enforcing Stricter Testing for Imported Toys and Figures

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has begun enforcing stricter regulations regarding the import of children’s toys and figures manufactured outside of the US in the wake of multiple scandals involving lead found in a very high percentage of toys from well-known US and international manufacturers.

This has the side effect of affecting the figure collection market in two ways:

All toys coming into the US intended for children aged 14 and under will now come under strict customs inspection (this includes the majority of figures from manufacturers such as Kaiyodo and other smmaller producers).

While most Japanese produced anime collector figures are intended for audiences of 16 and over, US Customs has a tendency to group age classifications together, and it will now fall to the Japanese producers to certify compliance of each product with the US Government that their products do not fall into the “children’s toy” category, and thus would not have to be ASTM tested prior to entry into the US.

Taken to its logical conclusion, this now means that figures shipped by many manufacturers will fall under greater scrutiny, and individual purchasers, not just wholesalers will now be liable for (potentially expensive) testing of toys if Customs decides to open up packages to verify that the item meets ASTM guidelines, with more figures ending up on “not for export” lists due to the high costs of testing and smaller manufacturers unwilling to pay the high costs if US Customs decides to mandate testing in the near future.

This hasn’t affected the commerce of figure sales quite yet, but more retailers and wholesalers are keeping a close eye on the developments.  AnimeNews.biz will continue to follow this situation as it develops.

Special thanks to Robert from Robert’s Anime Corner Store for the news.