How to Find US Product Regulations and Standards

Planning to sell products in the United States? Your first step should always be to find all relevant US regulations and standards that may apply. This is all publicly available information on the eCFR and the various US government agency websites. The only problem is that there is too much information to process, assuming you even know where to start.

In this guide, I explain the methods we use to:

1. Identify relevant US regulations and standards

2. Determine if a certain type of company is responsible (i.e., manufacturer or private labeler)

3. Determine what we must actually do to comply (once we know which CFRs apply)

Note: This guide does not cover ASTM standards, ANSI standards, or UL standards. Standards in this context refer to standards published in the eCFR.

Key sources for US regulations and standards

Here are the main sources we use to find information about US product regulations:

eCFR

The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) is the online database of the CFR where you can find information about US product regulations and standards. This is also the primary source we use to understand compliance requirements.

The downside is that the eCFR can be difficult to navigate if you don’t already know which regulations or standards apply to your product.

CPSC

The website of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) contains detailed information about safety standards, labeling, certification, and testing requirements for toys and other children’s products, general use products and much more.

Other US Government Agencies

You can also find information about product compliance requirements on the websites belonging to the following US government agencies:

• Federal Trade Commission
• Federal Communications Commission
• Food and Drug Administration
• United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
• Environmental Protection Agency

Compliance Gate Platform

You can also use the Compliance Gate Platform to find EU regulations and directives. All you have to do is follow these steps:

1. Select country/market

2. Select product modules (i.e., electronics, batteries, and toys)

3. Set specifications (i.e., input voltage)

Learn more about the Compliance Gate Platform

How to find applicable US product regulations

This is the procedure we follow when determining which regulation or standard applies to a certain product sold in the United States. Keep in mind that a product can be subject to more than one regulation.

1. US regulations applicable to consumer products

Some US regulations apply to most consumer products. Examples include 19 CFR Part 134 – Country of Origin Marking which sets country of origin marking requirements for most products sold in the US.

We normally start by listing the requirements that apply to consumer products in general in the United States, before we look at product specific factors.

2. Determine age group

All products intended for children between 0 to 12 years are covered by the CPSIA. This in turn means that you must comply with safety standards, labeling, certification, and testing requirements.

Keep in mind that you cannot arbitrarily determine the age group. Instead, you must follow the guidelines published by the CPSC.

3. General use products

Is your product on the list of products classified as general-use products? Then you must also comply with the applicable CFR standard. Here are a few examples:

• Button cell or coin battery
• Bicycle helmets
• Bicycles
• Bunk beds
• Fireworks
• Magnets
• Wearing apparel

Note that products containing components listed as general-use products can also be subject to these requirements. For example, products containing button cell batteries or magnets are subject to the following:

PART 1262 – SAFETY STANDARD FOR MAGNETS

PART 1263 – SAFETY STANDARD FOR BUTTON CELL OR COIN BATTERIES AND CONSUMER PRODUCTS CONTAINING SUCH BATTERIES

4. Product or industry-specific regulations

You may also need to take product-specific regulations and standards into consideration. You can find information about US product-specific regulations here:

• Electronics
• Wooden products
• Food contact materials
• Clothing and textiles
• Furniture

5. US state regulations

Products sold in the United States can also be subject to US state regulations. These can apply in addition to US federal regulations and standards.

Here are some examples:

• California Proposition 65
• New York State Environmental Conversation Law
• New York Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Products (TCCP)
• Washington Children’s Safe Products Act (CSPA)
• Safer Products for Washington
• Oregon Toxic-Free Kids Act

Are you responsible?

US product regulations and standards can sometimes set requirements specific to certain entities. For example, the CPSIA refers to US domestic manufacturers and private labels.

It is therefore important that you determine which category your company belongs to.

In general, the company that first introduces a product to the US market is responsible for ensuring that the product is safe and compliant with applicable product regulations and standards. In addition, this entity must ensure that the product is correctly labelled, certified, and tested.

In most cases, this is either a US manufacturer or a US-based importer.

Identify product requirements

Now that you have a list of applicable regulations and standards, and have determined if your company is responsible for ensuring compliance, it is finally time to determine what you must do in order to comply in practice.

We normally look at the latest version on the eCFR to understand the following requirements:

1. Safety standards incorporated by reference

2. Substance restrictions

3. Testing requirements

4. Labeling requirements

5. Warnings (if any)

6. Certification requirements (if any)

This is a process we normally repeat for each individual regulation or standard. This is time consuming, but also the only way to thoroughly understand the actions we must take.