How often should a product be lab tested?

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Lab testing frequency

Are you an importer or a manufacturer looking to test your product? Whether you need to identify the chemical composition of your product or you want to assess if your product meets the relevant safety requirements, ‘laboratory testing’ should be considered.

That being said, lab testing is not necessarily a “one and done” thing. For starters, you can expect that you will need to re-arrange testing if you ever change materials, components, make design changes, or manufacturer. It is also necessary to re-test products as standards are amended, and new standards are implemented.

However, some regulations require that you go one step further and implement a periodic lab testing program – even without any such changes.

This article presents information relating to how frequently lab testing should be done. In addressing the question, we compare several US and EU product regulations. This includes the CPSIA and FCC 47 CFR Part 15 in the US, and the Toy Safety and the EMC Directive in the EU.

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Food Contact Materials Lab Testing Guide: A Complete Guide

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food contact materials testing
Third-party testing is almost always necessary when importing or manufacturing food contact materials in the EU, US, and UK. In this guide, Niko Markkinen – FCM expert at Measurlabs in Finland, explains what brands must know about the following:

  • How to determine applicable FCM regulations and standards
  • Overall migration testing (OML)
  • Specific migration testing (SML)
  • How to determine the right test conditions
  • FCM testing costs
  • Number of required samples
  • Reasons why FCM testing fail

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Furniture Regulations in the European Union: A Complete Guide

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Furniture Regulations in the European Union

Planning to import or manufacture furniture for the European Union market? In this article, we cover several regulations, directives, and safety standards that apply to furniture in the EU. More specifically, the guide covers compliance requirements for wooden furniture, upholstered furniture, children’s furniture, and other products.

This includes the General Product Safety Directive, flammability standards, EUTR, the Toy Safety Directive, and REACH.
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Compliance Gate Platform Customer Case Study

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Background

Drevedy Watches is a brand owned by Love o Clock AB, based in Sweden. The company developed a new watch collection for launch in the autumn of 2022. This case study details how we helped them achieve the following through the Compliance Gate Platform:

1. Research relevant EU compliance requirements

2. Create mandatory documentation

3. Create label files

4. Book lab testing
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Fitness Product Regulations in the European Union: An Overview

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Fitness Products Regulations in the EU

Gym equipment and other fitness products sold in the European Union are covered by the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD). In short, it’s your responsibility as an importer or manufacturer to ensure that your fitness products are safe for consumers – which in turn may require lab testing, labelling, and documentation.

You may also need to take additional regulations into consideration, in case you import or manufacture electrical fitness equipment.

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Toy Safety Standards in the European Union: A Complete Guide

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Toy Safety Standards in the European Union

Ensuring compliance with applicable toy safety standards is mandatory when importing or manufacturing toys for the EU market. This guide serves as an introduction to the different types of toy safety standards, EN 71, EN IEC 62115, EN IEC 61558-2-7, and complementary technical reports.
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Packaging Materials Regulations in the European Union: An Overview

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Product packaging materials in the EU must comply with a range of product regulations. This includes chemical and heavy metals restrictions, recycling requirements, labelling, and lab testing.

In this guide, we take a look at Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), REACH, Food Packaging Regulations, and more.

Packaging labelling

Packaging labelling requirements mainly depend on the product, rather than the packaging material. Various packaging labels, including CE marking and WEEE marking, are covered in this guide.

Food packaging

Additional regulations apply to food and beverage packaging.

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Jewellery Regulations in the European Union: A Complete Guide

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Are you planning to import or manufacture jewellery in the European Union? In this guide, we cover what jewellery importers and manufacturers must know about the REACH regulation, labelling requirements, standards, packaging regulations, jewellery lab testing and more.
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EU Declaration of Compliance (DoC) for Food Contact Materials Guide

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Issuing a Declaration of Compliance (DoC) is mandatory when importing and manufacturing certain food contact materials in the European Union. Notice that this also includes consumer products such as drinking bottles, cutlery, and individual components.

In this guide, we explain how you can determine if your specific food contact material or product requires a Declaration of Compliance, and what you must know before creating one.

Covered Regulations

  • Plastic Materials Regulation ((EU) 10/2011)
  • Use of Bisphenol A in Varnishes and Coatings Regulation ((EU) 2018/213)
  • Active and Intelligent Materials Regulation ((EC) No 450/2009)
  • Recycled Plastic FCM Regulation ((EC) No 282/2008)
  • Ceramics Directive (84/500/EEC)
  • Regenerated Cellulose Film Directive (2007/42/EC)
  • Epoxy Derivatives Restriction Regulation ((EC) 1895/2005)
  • FCM from China or Hong Kong Regulation ((EU) No 284/2011)

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Voluntary Product Safety Standards: An Essential Guide

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Are you thinking about having your product meet voluntary product safety standards? Some might consider it to be costly and time-consuming. However, there are compelling reasons to do so, not to mention that it may help you avoid civil liability in some jurisdictions.

In this article, we present common questions associated with voluntary product safety standards and present the business case for adopting such voluntary standards.
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