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a vinegar and oil bottle kitchen knife set a gun and flashlightmattress holster

for home safety

All of these seem like normal household items, but actually there are regulations governing the items that in their normal course of use touch food, the vinegar and oil bottle and the knife set.

of the three items, the kitchen knife set had the most

significant safety hazard potential, if the knife handles come loose from the blade.

a mattress holster with poor stitching tear strength can

allow a loaded gun to accidentally fall to the floor

and discharge.

from a quality perspective, the food contact items are most

likely to garner poor reviews if there is rusting, or the plastic

develops minute cracks due to washing at high temperatures

in a dishwasher.

On a popular blog on getting started in private labeling, there were a few products that the posters said they were private labeling themselves:

to focus just on meetingregulatory minimums

test for safety concerns also ensure a top qualityproduct is being sold?

AS A BEGINNER TO THE BUSINESS OF IMPORTING, HOW DO YOU KNOW WHETHER

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT ITEMS ARE REGULATED?

HOW CAN YOU MITIGATE THE RISK OF REGULATORY FAILURES?

HOW CAN YOU REDUCE THE RISK OF SAFETY INCIDENTS?

HOW CAN YOU ENSURE CONSISTENT QUALITY?

1 Work with a 3rd party provider

whether you work with a consultant or with a testing laboratory, you should be able to get good information on the basic regulatory requirements, common safety issues, and quality considerations for your chosen product(s). Depending on the provider, this can cost as little as $150 or as much as $800, depending on the regions in which you plan to sell, and how common your product is. Some providers offer research for free, but free information may not be the most reliable or comprehensive.

2 Independent research

look on the regulatory websites for the country in which you wish to sell, often their regulatory docu-ments will be translated into English. This method is recommended only for doing preliminary research into which products are so heavily regulated, you won't want to venture into that market.

1Source domestically

the manufacturer or importer is typically heldresponsible for the safety and regulatory requirements for a product within the US (although this has recently changed for products regulated under CPSIA, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act). Sourcing domestically can significantly reduce your risk for goods that are regulated by the FDA, USDA, or NHTSA, such as food products, food contact products, or products used within a motor vehicle.

2Sourcing on Alibaba

if you source "FOB," a very common trade term used on Alibaba (top of the sourcing page), you are agreeing to the liability and ownership transfer when theproduct crosses the bow of the ship, meaning you are legally liable for import certification and declarations. Suppliers who are aware of testing and certification requirements will put it on their listing (CE, FDA, or an NRTL listing such as UL or TUV). To do your own testing (which may be required for children's products for example) can run you anywhere from $250-$5000 to meet regulatory requirements.

1 Voluntary Safety Standards

ASTM and ANSI are two large American standards associations and ISO is the international standards organization. Between these three associations, thereis likely to be an industry safety standard that applies to your product, whether the typical expected minimum weight for a seating item, or tensile and tear strength for climbing gear, or reflective testing for personal protective equipment. These standards are notregulatory, or legally required, but can significantly reduce the risk of civil litigation in the event of an injury. Safety testing varies widely by standard, but is anywhere from $100-$5000.

2 CPSC Recalls Board

the Consumer Product Safety Commission publishes all recalls publically. These range from shattering glass vases, to unsafe strollers, to machetes whose handles randomly detach, to food contact items that contain unsafe levels of cadmium. Spending time reading through prior recalls will give a good sense of the kinds of problems other manufacturers, private labelers, or importers have experienced with consumer products in the past. Note, the CPSC regulates consumer prod-ucts not regulated by other agencies, so items like cosmetics or OTC drugs are regulated by the FDA, items for use on boats are regulated by the Coast Guard and NHTSA regulates any products used in a motor vehicle, and they all also have recall powers.

1Industry Associations

the AATCC (American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists) is a good example of an industryassociation whose standards are used throughout the textile industry to evaluate the level of pilling, or color loss, or fabric bursting strength. They are commonly accepted within the industry and suppliers shouldn't have a problem meeting your expectations based on this common quality language.

2Sourcing with 3rd party compliance provider input

the use of a factory quality audit, sometimes also called an ISO 9001 audit, can be used to evaluate the overall consistency of procedures within a factory: do they use checklists? Do they have standard materials intake procedures? For those factories that produce consistently, it is common to have an inspection of the shipment and to pull an item from the shipment to send into the lab and verify that it meets the same standards the original sample did before production. This can cost from between $20-$500 depending on the testing standards and region of the lab.

Rachel Greer will also be giving a seminar at the prospershow.com February 8-9, 2016 in Salt Lake City. Enroll now to learn from this and other workshops led by experts on Amazon.

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