U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION 

4330 EAST WEST HIGHWAY 

BETHESDA, MARYLAND 20814-4408 

Todd A. Stevenson 

Director 0 Office of the Secretary 

Division of Information Management 0 Office of Information and Technology 

Tel: 301-504-6836 

Fax: 301-504-0127 

Email: tstevenson@cpsc.gov 

May 24,2010 

Erika Z. Jones 

Counsel to Bicycle Product Suppliers Association 

Mayer Brown LLP 

1999 K Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20006-1101 

Dear Ms. Jones, 

This responds to your petition, dated April 1,2010, on behalf of the Bicycle Product 

Suppliers Association (BPSA). The petition requested an extension of the stay of enforcement ofthe 

testing and certification requirements related to 16 CFR part 1512 imposed by section 14 of the 

Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), as amended by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement 

Act of 2008 (CPSIA). 

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) has decided to extend the 

stay related to 16 CFR part 1512 (other than 16 CFR § 1512.16, as discussed below) until August 14, 

2010. Manufacturers and importers of products subject to 16 CFR part 1512 that are manufactured 

on or after August 14, 2010, will need to certify that their product complies with 16 CFR part 1512. 

Certifications of bicycles designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger 

must be based on tests conducted by a third party conformity assessment body whose accreditation 

has been accepted by the CPSC. As you are aware the CPSC maintains a list of third party 

conformity assessment bodies on its website. Certifications of nonchildren's bicycles must be based 

on a test of each product or upon a reasonable testing program. 

The Commission is aware that there are currently no CPSC-accepted conformity assessment 

bodies accredited to test reflectors for compliance with 16 CFR § 1512.16. Commission staff will be 

discussing this issue with conformity assessment bodies in the coming weeks. We encourage BPSA 

members to work diligently to inform the conformity assessment body industry of the bicycle 

industry's need for CPSC-accepted third party conformity assessment bodies that will be capable of 

testing reflectors. Nevertheless, because there are not currently any CPSC-accepted third party 

conformity assessment bodies accredited to perform reflector tests, a stay related solely to 16 CFR § 

1512.16 will remain in effect until November 14,2010. Reflectors on children's bicycles 

manufactured on or after November 14, 2010, must be third-party tested, absent a finding by the 

Commission that conformity assessment body capacity remains insufficient. 

CPSC Hotline: 1-800-638-CPSC(2772)* CPSC's Web Site: http://www.cpsc.gov 
Page 2 

The Commission is aware that bicycles with non-quill-type stems may not be able to comply 

with the insertion mark requirement of 16 C.F.R. § 1512.6(a). Until this issue can be addressed by 

revision of the regulations, therefore, the insertion mark requirement for non-quill-type stems is 

hereby excluded from the certification requirement. 

Thus, with respect to 16 CFR part 1512, the Commission expects that, for children's 

bicycles, the requirements of 16 CFR part 1512 that do not pertain to reflectors will be tested by 

CPSC-accepted third party conformity assessment bodies. For nonchildren's products, the 

requirements of 16 CFR part 1512 that do not pertain to reflectors will be subject to either a test of 

each product or a reasonable testing program. For reflectors, the Commission will continue the stay 

until November 14, 2010. Additionally, as stated in the previous paragraph, for all bicycles with 

non-quill-type stems, the insertion mark requirement is excluded from the certification requirement. 

The Commission is also aware that part 1512 does not adequately address some of the 

technologies and designs used in conjunction with today's bicycles. The Commission is beginning 

the process of reviewing its regulations to determine what revisions are necessary. The Compliance 

staff requests that manufacturers who believe they are unable to certify current designs to part 1512 

provide, no later than June 4, 2010, specific information as to which provisions of the current 

regulation are problematic, which models or classes of bicycles are affected, and an explanation of 

the issue. The staff will provide certification guidance on these issues as soon as feasible thereafter. 

The Commission will publish a notice in the Federal Register that will communicate to the 

public the decision expressed in this letter. We appreciate the BPSA meeting with Commission staff 

on May 3, 2010, to discuss the issues involved in the petition, and we look forward to continuing to 

work with the BPSA. 

Sincerely, 

~~Todd A. Stevenson 

Secretary