WCMA: U.S. Court of Appeals Vacates Consumer Product Safety Commission Rule on Custom Window Coverings

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) achieved a resounding victory in its lawsuit challenging the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) rule, A Safety Standard for Operating Cords on Custom Windows. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today unanimously ruled in favor of granting the WCMA’s petition for review, vacating the CPSC’s rule, and remanding the matter to the CPSC.

WCMA filed a lawsuit on November 30, 2022 challenging the CPSC’s rule because the rule does not substantively advance child safety and ignores the fact that safety incidents have steadily declined since the voluntary standard has been in effect. The court agreed with WCMA that CPSC failed to provide an opportunity to comment on the underlying incident data, conducted a flawed cost-benefit analysis that ignored the enormous harm that the rule would have caused the multibillion-dollar custom window coverings industry, and selected an arbitrary effective date for the rule.

The window covering industry will continue to be required to meet the provisions of the voluntary window covering safety standard, ANSI/WCMA A100.1-2018. The 2022 revised, updated window covering standard, ANSI/WCMA A100.1-2022, has been approved by ANSI. The compliance date for the new standard for all companies manufacturing, distributing or selling window covering products in the U.S. is June 1, 2024. The 2022 updated standard will require the vast majority of all window covering products sold in the United States to be cordless or to have inaccessible or short cords. The revised, updated safety standard strengthens window-covering safety by eliminating the use of free hanging operating cords, free hanging tilt cords, and multiple cord connectors on all made-to-order custom window covering products.

The industry’s voluntary standard has been a success and has significantly decreased incidents and improved product safety. Industry members have always considered compliance with the standard to be mandatory, and CPSC acknowledges that there is substantial compliance with the standard. Despite that success, the CPSC promulgated its new mandatory rule, circumventing the process envisioned under the CPSA.

The Case Number is D.C. Cir. No. 22-1300. The Court’s Opinion Window Covering Manufacturers Association v. Consumer Product Safety Commission can be found here.

About WCMA

The Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) represents the interests of the window covering industry manufacturers, fabricators and assemblers. Industry products include blinds, shades, shutters, curtains, curtain rods, drapes, drapery hardware and other window treatments. Visit us on the web at www.wcmanet.com.