As we previously reported in early March 2020, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) set a June 8, 2020 deadline for mattress manufacturers and the fire testing community to use a new cigarette test material called SRM 1196a supplied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for testing residential mattresses and mattress pads under 16 CFR Part 1632 (Part 1632). Based on the CPSC’s prior announcement, all Part 1632 tests conducted after June 8 would need to be performed using either SRM 1196a or remaining supplies of a previous version of this material called SRM 1196 if they remain available in full unopened packs. After that date, unfiltered commercial cigarettes (which the Commission had previously allowed for Part 1632 tests when NIST’s supplies of SRM 1196 were exhausted) could no longer be used.
Within days of the CPSC’s March announcement, the COVID-19 pandemic became a serious national and global health crisis. Although the three-month implementation period that the CPSC initially set should have allowed enough time under ordinary circumstances for the industry and testing community to order and receive the necessary supplies of SRM 1196a from NIST by June 8, the last three months have been extraordinary. Because of COVID, we also understand that NIST has reduced the number of staff available to process orders for SRM 1196a.
Given these complicating factors, ISPA requested that the CPSC extend the June 8 deadline for using the new SRM 1196a cigarettes by 90 days. On June 8, the CPSC approved ISPA’s request. The new compliance deadline is September 8, 2020. In the meantime, CPSC will continue to allow Part 1632 tests to be conducted either using remaining supplies of the initial SRM 1196 cigarettes or the unfiltered commercial cigarettes that the Commission had previously allowed parties to use for Part 1632 tests.
We encourage ISPA members that conduct Part 1632 tests to order their supplies of SRM 1196a promptly. Click here to read the CPSC’s announcement extending the deadline. Please contact Ryan Trainer or Marie Clarke if you have questions.
