On August 2, 2017, the Maine Legislature enacted a new Act H.P.138-L.D.182, to regulate flame retardants（FRs） in new residential upholstered furniture. The new law, An Act to protect firefighters by establishing a prohibition on the sale and distribution of new upholstered furniture containing certain flame-retardant chemicals directs the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to adopt rules to implement the Act. To effectively implement these rules, the DEP have indicated that they will need to develop a product labeling and registration program for manufacturers and a product sampling and testing program for certification.

According to the new law, new upholstered furniture containing restricted flame retardants that were acquired by retailers and wholesalers before January 1, 2019, can be sold, offered for sale or distributed until stocks are exhausted. 

Highlights of the new law are summarized in the table below.

Definitions:

A. Upholstered furniture: residential furniture intended for indoor use in a home or other dwelling intended for residential occupancy that consists in whole or in part of resilient cushioning materials enclosed within a covering consisting of fabric or related materials

B. Flame retardant chemicals: a chemical or chemical compound for which a functional use is to resist or inhibit the spread of fire, include, but are not limited to halogenated, phosphorus-containing, nitrogen-based and nanoscale flame retardants and any chemical or chemical compound where ‘flame retardant’ appears on the substance safety data sheet (SDS) under 29 CFR, Section 1910.1200(g)(2015).

BACL Service:

BACL, headquartered in the United Sates, is a global comprehensive international third-party testing and certification service organization. With knowledge of the laws and regulations of various market, BACL can not only offer testing and certification services for finished products including domestic appliance, textile and garment, shoes and toys, but also help companies to execute quality control over the whole industry chain from raw material to finished products.