can some one elaborate on this for me?

[Icooclast]

this is a copy/paste of a e-mail i got from 76 whole sale:

APA Update: What is a Professional?

The Spirit of ‘76 team recently returned from the APA Winter Conference in Las Vegas where the topic of interest was the word “Professional.” Since the release of the 2018 APA 87-1 Standard revision in 2020 confusion over fireworks designations and “Pro Use” fireworks have been a primary concern among industry members.

In an attempt to lessen confusion over the double UN0336 designations, the APA along with DOT’s PHMSA, has opted to suspend the UN0336 Fireworks Professional Use Only designation going forward. Products that have been already issued EX number will continue to be valid for the time being, but no new products will be approved as “1.4G UN0336 Fireworks Professional Use Only.”

What does this mean for ‘76 Pro Line? What does this mean for ‘76 Pro Line? Click here to read more on our blog.

[PyroFL]

In short if you have your 54 it means nothing

If your a normal consumer it means nothing

If your mostly shooting 76 pro line with a shooters certification it means nothing, for now

If you have a AP, depending what state you live in you may not be able to purchase or have shipped to your state or pickup from your supplier some products.

I think that’s what your asking?

[BMoore]

My understanding is that Articles of Pyrotechnics had their own classification of UN0431. China stopped recognizing that classification and began shipping AOP as 1.3. Once in the U.S. the product could be re-classified and re-labeled as UN0431 adding expense. The APA got around that issue by devloping a sub category of UN0336 Consumer Fireworks designated as UN0336-Professional Use Only. Now the AOP could be imported as consumer fireworks. This has muddied the AOP waters though because UN0336 (Consumer) - Professional Only almost sounds like an oxymoron and according to some (at least in theory) is making it easier for these professional products to be sold to unqualified consumers. Presumably this development means that future AOP products will once again need to be imported under the UN0431 designation. It will be interesting to see how that develops.

[Icooclast]

thanks, guys. i think i get it. please feel free to add more if something you know has changed

[displayfireworks1]

Here a link to the blog.
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https://76fireworks.com/2024/03/06/apa-update-what-is-a-professional/?utm_source=DailyStory&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=76_Pro_Line_Newsletter&utm_content=%2776+Pro+Line+Newsletter+%23012&dsid=c07680e1311e4630a2d53eb9e3a3f87b&ds_campaign=76_Pro_Line_Newsletter
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When I came out with my Articles of Pyrotechnic education program in 2018 , they were already working on this AP products and some sort of sales clarification for years prior to 2018 and couldn’t define it. Now here we are in 2024 and they are still trying to define it.
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The answer they keep looking for is how can the Display Companies enjoy the benefits of having these AP products that perform great, can now be easily shipped and do not require special storage and bookkeeping. However, at the same time we also do not want anyone else besides Display Companies to enjoy those benefits of AP products.
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Another point I find interesting is. Over dinner and drinks at a convention they convince a government agency to immediately stop approving EX numbers on these products. While they may not approve new EX numbers, will they allow existing approved EX products be replenished? I look forward to reading any press release from PHMSA on this. Not many cared about these products when they were just single shot items or consumer products with ports. Now that these new items broke the 500 Gram cake threshold and contain air burst (don’t say salute) this becomes a competitive threat to Consumer Fireworks sales. Too much competitive opportunity for greed and unregulated sales. If unchecked and escalates the government will blame the APA for letting it happen if injuries occur. Both the APA and the NFA refuse to recognize advanced fireworks users as different from regular consumer users.
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How is anyone in this industry going to define Professional or Qualified person . There is not a single pyrotechnic school in the entire country and from what I see of these state certifications don’t actually instruct you how to shoot a fireworks product. The PGI course is based on display products not Articles of Pyrotechnics. My program may be the only one specific to the AP products both single shot items and now these new cake items. The real APA accomplishment here is stopping future EX number approval. The rest of the answer they are looking for is years away. It’s a great strategy, stop the products flow immediately and worry about the sales of the product down the road.

[Icooclast]

thanks for all that info, Dave. much appreciated

[Icooclast]

so, does this mean that they are getting rid of 1.4 pro fireworks for people who don't have a permit like the one from your classes, or will one have to get a different (much harder to get) permit?

[displayfireworks1]

I wouldn’t get too excited about this. When these new Pro products starting coming into the country I said to myself, someone in China wanted this. No one in United States asked China to do this. US corporate is now reacting to this. Give the industry time to adjust. China will find another solution. I’m still waiting for a written response from this agency that approves EX numbers. I can’t believe that EX number approval process can be stopped that abruptly without cause or because someone may find UN 0336 too confusing with Consumer Fireworks. It is not confusing read the label. The truth is they are afraid unscrupulous retail locations will sell them to novice user and act dumb under this UN 0336 guise.

[Arclight]

I don't know that APA can prevent you from getting EX numbers completely if you want to go through enough effort. But I do know there is an "easy way" and a "hard way." The easy way is to follow APA 87-1 standard in terms of allowable chemicals and then do a "thermal stability" test. This just requires that you weigh out samples of the ingredients into a container, bake them at a certain temperature for a while, and then weight and examine the contents afterwards to see if they caught fire ore degraded. You can do this yourself with relatively simple equipment.

The hard ward involves having an authorized lab review a drawing and ingredients list of the proposed item, then performing a bunch of expensive tests and writing a report on it. I think you need like 8 samples and you have to get them to them without using Fedex or UPS, so more $$$. This is what the procedure looks like for explosives, rocket motors and other stuff that isn't 1.4 fireworks.

Someone else can chime in if I got something wrong, but this is my understanding.