WASHINGTON, May 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) today announced the industry's first third-party certification program designed to help consumers and retailers identify window covering products that are certified as best suited for use in homes with young children. The new Best for Kids program will require products that manufacturers want to be part of the program to meet stringent criteria, and to submit those products to a WCMA-recognized third party testing laboratory. Products that meet these criteria will be eligible to be listed and labeled on packaging and materials as "certified," and companies can use this designation on their marketing materials. In order to earn the "Certified" designation a window covering product must either have no cords or the inner cords cannot be accessible, as defined by the industry's safety standard (ANSI/WCMA A 100.1-2012). If accessible inner cords are present in products with no operating cords, the accessible inner cords cannot create a hazardous loop in accordance with the test procedures in Appendix D of the safety standard. The Best for Kids program includes criteria to evaluate window covering products primarily intended for use in homes or buildings in which young children are expected to be present. Based on the evaluation of those criteria, the program allows for a window covering product to be certified and recommended for use in such environments.
