CPSC Issues NPR for Safety Standard for Button Cell or Coin Batteries

On August 16th, 2022, the United States enacted Public Law 117-171, also known as “Reese’s Law,” to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to establish a final consumer product safety standard for button cell or coin batteries and consumer products containing button cell or coin batteries, no later than 1 year after the Act’s enactment.

As required by the Reese’s Law, on February 9th, 2023, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Safety Standard and Notification Requirements for Button Cell or Coin Batteries and Consumer Products Containing Such Batteries (16 CFR 1263). The new proposed rule will establish performance requirements for battery compartments on consumer products that contain, or are designed to use, one or more button cell or coin batteries, in order to eliminate or adequately reduce the risk of injury from ingestion of button cell or coin batteries by children 6 years old and younger. The proposed rule also requires warning labels on the packaging, battery compartments, and accompanying instructions and manuals of consumer products containing button cell or coin batteries.

Any toy products that are in compliance with the battery accessibility and labeling requirements of 16 CFR 1250, Safety Standard Mandating ASTM F963 for Toys, are exempt under the rule. Zinc-air button cell or coin batteries that do not present an ingestion risk as determined by the CPSC are also exempt under the rule.

If the rule is finalized, consumer products subject to the rule must be tested and certified as compliant with the rule. The CPSC is accepting comments until March 13th, 2023.

Button cell or coin battery is defined as:

• A single cell battery with a diameter greater than the height of the battery; or
• Any other battery, regardless of the technology used to product an electrical charge, that is determined by the Commission to pose an ingestion hazard. 

Consumer product containing button cell or coin batteries is defined as a consumer product containing or designed to use one or more button cell or coin batteries, regardless of whether such batteries are intended to be replaced by the consumer or are included with the product or sold separately.