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Act now - it could affect your business! 
10/10/2023
The Baby Products Association urges you to act now to ensure baby and nursery goods are kept out of scope of the new Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations
URGENT ACTION REQUIRED:
The consultation on the new approach to the fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture closes on 24th October 2023and we need YOU to respond!
WHAT THIS IS ABOUT
As many of you will know, the Baby Products Association has been tirelessly campaigning for the removal of baby and nursery products from the scope of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 when the revision was announced back in 2009.
There have been many meetings and two previous consultations, all abandoned in favour of this new approach, which will see the Regulations become far less prescriptive and be underpinned by a new set of safety standards developed by BSI.
Our dogged determination has nearly paid off as the draft Regulations circulated for what is believed to be the FINAL consultation, exclude the majority of baby and nursery goods from scope. It is believed that those not already excluded will also be considered following consultation - but we need YOU to submit your responses to ensure a favourable outcome for the industry.
ACT NOW:
- PLEASE - encourage everyone you know to respond including retailers you deal with, your different brands (if you have separate email addresses), individual staff members, your family, friends and anyone else, especially those expecting/or with young children.
- View the Baby Products Association's proposed consultation responses (We have answered all questions, even though some of these do not appear relevant to this industry. However, if there is fierce opposition to this change of scope, baby and nursery products could get dragged back in and we need to consider the impact of the Regulations, should the industry still have to comply).
- You can respond online by clicking here where you can copy and paste the responses from the Baby Products Association's document as detailed above.
- Under Question 5 we have responded 'yes' and we explain here:
The General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) consider misuse and these new approach Regulations should not contradict the GPSR. It is very likely that furniture labelled for outside use will be used and/or stored inside and therefore pose the same risk as other items of furniture, we do not want OPSS to apply this rationale to car seats and pushchairs and therefore have taken the decision to agree with the proposal to take labelled outdoor use furniture out of scope.
If you prefer, you can submit the responses directly (but please remove the Baby Products Association logo and the first line of the title) by email to: furniturefire.safety@beis.gov.uk
Alternatively you can use a response form available here and write to:
New approach to furniture fire safety consultation
Office for Product Safety and Standards
Department for Business and Trade
4th Floor
Cannon House
18 The Priory Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6BS
However you decide to do so, please do submit a response by the deadline of 24th October 2023.
FUTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONSULTATION
The links below take you to the consultation itself, where the new approach is explained and the consultation questions posed; the impact assessment considered during the drafting of the new Regulations and the latest draft Regulations themselves.
It is a PUBLIC consultation which means anyone can respond and as this change would mean babies and young children would not be subjected to eating, sleeping and playing in close contact with flame retardant chemicals, it is in everyone's interest to ensure baby and nursery products finally get removed from the Regulations, which have also stifled business and innovation.
Smarter Regulation: consultation on the new approach to the fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture
Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture: Impact assessment
Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture: Draft Regulations
