U. S. President Biden Signs Reese’s Law to Protect Children and Consumers from Button Cell Batteries

On Tuesday, August 16th U.S. President Joe Biden signed a law that protects children and other consumers against hazards associated with the accidental ingestion of button cell or coin batteries. It requires the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to promulgate a consumer product safety standard to require child-resistant closures on consumer products that use such batteries. "Reese’s Law” was created in honor of Reese Hamsmith, an 18-month-old child who died in 2020 after ingesting a button cell battery from a remote control.

The safety standard must include the following:

A performance requirement that button cell or coin battery compartments are secured in a manner to prevent access to batteries by children aged 6 or younger. The goal is to eliminate or adequately reduce the risk of injury from button or coin cell battery ingestion during reasonably foreseeable use or misuse conditions; and

Appropriate Warning Labels:

• On the packaging of button cell or coin batteries, and the packaging of any consumer product containing button cell or coin batteries

• To be included in any literature, such as a user manual, that accompanies a consumer product containing button cell or coin batteries, and

• As practicable, directly on a consumer product containing button cell or coin batteries in a manner that is visible to the consumer upon installation or replacement of the button cell or coin battery

The Warning Labels required shall:

• Clearly identify the hazard of ingestion; and

• Instruct consumers, as practicable, to keep new and used batteries out of the reach of children, to seek immediate medical attention if a battery is ingested, and to follow any other consensus medical advice.

Once the CPSC is presented with a voluntary standard that meets the requirement for a promulgated standard required under the bill, the voluntary standard will be treated as a consumer product safety rule promulgated under the Consumer Product Safety Act section 9. The bill goes into effect 180 days after this date.

Link to the legislation: https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr5313/BILLS-117hr5313enr.pdf

How Does this Impact You? Contact Us to Discuss
Bureau Veritas can help you ensure that your products will meet your customer’s expectations as well as all applicable regulations. We can help you reduce cost and time-to-market, minimize the risk of recalls and returns, increase sales and customer satisfaction, and eliminate previously unidentified threats to your company’s reputation. Our services help protect both your bottom line and your peace of mind.

If you have any questions on these final rules, please contact your customer service representative or email: info@us.bureauveritas.com
22B-073

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