According to PlasticsIndustry.com:
“Several states, including California, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and
Virginia, have laws that require suffocation warning labels for plastic bags. In addition, two
major cities, Chicago, IL and New York, NY have adopted ordinances requiring similar warning
labels for plastic bags. At least a dozen other smaller cities or towns have similar laws requiring
suffocation warning labels for plastic bags.1 Canada has also implemented comparable warning
requirements.”
More and more cities and states are requiring this suffocation warning be on all bags and it will likely eventually become another federal regulation. Due to this, Amazon requires all bags with an opening of 5 inches or more to have a suffocation warning on the bag. This can be either by a suffocation warning label or by having it pre-printed on the poly bag. Here are the exact requirements Amazon has for the suffocation warning that must be on the poly bags:
Poly bags used to protect Units must meet the following requirements:
- Poly bags with a 5″ opening or larger (measured when flat) are required to have a suffocation warning, either printed on the bag itself, or attached as a label.
- For example: “WARNING: To avoid danger of suffocation, keep this plastic bag away from babies and children. Do not use this bag in cribs, beds, carriages or play pens. This bag is not a toy.”
- The warning should be printed or placed in a prominent location and in a legible font size for the size of the bag.
- Print size of this warning should conform to the following table:
Total Length plus Width of Bag Minimum Print Size 60 inches or more 24 point 40 to 59 inches 18 point 30 to 39 inches 14 point less than 29 inches 10 point
-From http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=200243250#poly
If you do not abide by these rules you could have problems selling on Amazon, including account suspension. If you received a customer complaint for not having a suffocation warning notice on the bag you could face the termination of your selling privileges. This is a simple rule to follow and there is no excuse to not follow it. The suffocation warning labels are not even a penny a label, so it is not even a burden financially to put the warning on any bag you use.
Beyond Amazon, I would suggest all eBay sellers put suffocation warning labels or use poly bags that have the warning pre-printed on them to avoid potential issues in the future. It is extremely inexpensive to do so, and makes sense to stay ahead of the rules and always ensure the best customer experience, regardless of the marketplace you are selling on.
*Sunny The Cat was not harmed in the making of this article’s featured image. 🙂