AAFA Urges CPSC to Enforce Children’s Sleepwear Standard, Investigate Non-Compliant Products

September 17, 2013 by Claire Yan|Consumer Product Safety Commission

The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) asked the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to heighten enforcement of the children’s sleepwear standard, and fully investigate reports of non-compliant products, in a Sept. 16 letter to the Commission. Despite the Commission’s clear stance on the issue, stated in a 1996 Sleepwear and Loungewear Position letter that was re-issued in 2011 (See Ref: [11122711]), AAFA said that “the existence of non-compliant sleepwear that remains on the market and continues to be sold year after year” indicates that the “rules have been relaxed through non-enforcement.”

AAFA also referred to a Dec. 2012 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for copies of documents to further understand CPSC’s enforcement of its sleepwear position. To date, AAFA said that the requested information “has yet to be supplied" and urged CPSC to “codify the relaxed rules in an updated sleepwear regulation” to ensure compliance with rules like the federal flammability standard. “The presence of non-compliant product raises fundamental safety issues and creates unfair competitive advantages,” AAFA’s letter said.

In the letter, AAFA also sought yes or no answers to specific questions regarding why “seemingly non-compliant products are still allowed to be sold”:

Can cotton lounge pants without flame resistant treatment be marketed to children?
If a garment is marketed online, or sold in store with a hangtag that says “Not intended for sleepwear," then is the "Not intended for sleepwear" label sufficient warning to the consumer even if it looks like sleepwear?
Regarding the marketing and selling of robes, are there any specific guidelines on what must be flame resistant and what does not have to be flame resistant? If so, can the Commission publish and share the guidelines?
Many sleepwear styles sold online do not list the fabric content information in the description. As a result, potential consumers are unaware that they may be purchasing a violative garment. What action has the CPSC taken to address this violation of the law?

The full AAFA letter and list of questions is (here).