Safety Standard for Sling Carriers

In January 2017, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a consumer product safety standard for sling carriers under section 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The standard incorporated by reference the 2015 ASTM voluntary standard for sling carriers that was in effect at the time and supplemented it with an additional requirement for warning label attachment. The CPSIA sets forth a process for updating mandatory standards for durable infant or toddler products that are based on a voluntary standard when the voluntary standards organization revises the standard. Consistent with the CPSIA's update process, the Commission issued a direct final rule in April 2020, that revised the incorporation by reference for the mandatory standard for sling carriers to reflect ASTM's revised 2019 voluntary standard, while retaining the additional requirement for warning label attachment. In November 2021, ASTM approved a revision to the voluntary standard for sling carriers, ASTM F2907-21. However, ASTM delayed notification to the CPSC until a revised version of the standard was published in April 2022, ASTM F2907-22. On June 3, 2022, through publication in the Federal Register, the Commission provided notice of the availability of the revised standard and sought comments on the effect of the revisions on the safety of the standard for sling carriers. No comments were received. Consistent with the CPSIA's update process, this direct final rule again updates the mandatory standard for sling carriers to incorporate by reference ASTM's 2022 version of the voluntary standard, while retaining the additional requirement for warning label attachment.