Saftey testing laws for imported products

[amretail]

Hi there,
We sell hair straighteners and various hair care products that we sell from wholesellers that are imported from China. Some of the straighteners have the Intertek and UL logo, but some brands have no markings whatsover by any saftey standards company.
Are there US laws for importing these products without any electrical testing for saftey? Should I stop selling these unmarked products? Are they even safe for resale?

Thanks!

 

[renosteinke]

Generally, there is no requirement that any product meet any 'standard' whatever. It's very much 'let the buyer beware.'

Sure, you will hear of product recalls, and there are often requirements as to labeling or package markings - but these things are not very effective. When it's a 'no name' product from a country that has no regard for patent law, trademark law, or considers counterfeiting a perfectly respectable commercial activity, laws are largely ineffective.

For example, Chinese manufacturers have made the counterfeiting of UL lables the national pastime.

Safe? Private firms like UL have tried to define 'safety' with their standards, confirm it with their tests, and monitor it with their inspectors. Yet the final responsibility lays with the consumer. I am confused by the mindset that some folks have where they try to assert that the $9.95 'no name' product is the equal of the $150 branded and proven product. (After all, these same folks have no trouble telling a Porsche from a Yugo).

Let's not confuse 'legal' with 'what's right.' You're the guy who has to face the man in the mirror; will you like who you see?