CPSC Approves Final Rule Requiring Electronic Filing of Certificates of Compliance

This final rule will make product inspections more efficient and will improve the ability to target high-risk products imported into the U.S., CPSC said. It will enable CPSC inspectors to identify and seize imported consumer products at the ports should they violate regulated safety standards. The ability to use eFiling will also reduce inspection frequency and hold times for compliant product importers, the commission said this week.

Brokers have expressed skepticism of trade readiness for electronic filing of CPSC data in ACE, saying that there hasn't been enough time to test the new requirements (see 2411150016).

“The bipartisan passage of the eFiling rule is one of the most consequential steps CPSC will take to modernize our screening process at ports of entry,” CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric said in a Dec. 18 release. “Ensuring that imported products are safe for Americans, especially our kids, is a priority for the agency. eFiling will strengthen CPSC’s ability to target unsafe products and prevent them from coming into the country and into consumers’ homes.”

CPSC officials had indicated earlier this fall that the final rule would be coming out soon (see 2409240034). The ability to use eFiling would be part of the CPSC's partner government agency message set in ACE.

According to CPSC, the rule affects most imported consumer products as well as those produced domestically, effective 18 months after the final rule is published in the Federal Register. "A 24-month effective date will apply to consumer products imported into a Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) and subsequently entered for consumption or warehousing," CPSC said.

The eFiling program affects all imported consumer products subject to a mandatory safety standard, including those subject to de minimis. Importers of these products requiring certification will need to file the following data elements during entry filing, according to CPSC: identification of the finished product; party certifying compliance; each consumer product safety rule to which the finished product has been certified; date and place the finished product was manufactured; when and where the finished product was most recently tested for compliance; and contact information for the person maintaining test records.

The eFiling program underwent alpha and beta industry testing pilots between 2016 and 2024, CPSC noted. The commission is inviting up to 2,000 more importers to sign up before eFiling becomes mandatory (see 2411140044).

All five commissioners voted to approve the rule, while three voted in favor of an amendment extending the general implementation deadline from 12 months to 18 months.

"America faces a flood of foreign direct-to-consumer shipments, and the tide is rising. These e-commerce shipments often originate from countries that do not respect U.S. safety laws. At the same time, CPSC has a limited capacity to monitor the millions of small parcels that enter the U.S. marketplace duty free each day under the de minimis exemption," Commissioners Douglas Dziak and Peter A. Feldman said in a Dec. 18 joint statement.

They continued: "This rule does not create additional testing and certification burdens for firms. Importers already must provide testing certificates in paper format upon request. This new rule will bring the Commission’s tracking and targeting system into the 21st century by requiring electronic filing of certificate data. In doing so, this rule will make it more difficult for foreign manufacturers who ignore existing testing and certification requirements to evade detection."

While all five Commissioners praised the final rule's passage, Commissioner Mary T. Boyle warned that the final rule might have limited effectiveness, given that it only touches a fraction of imported consumer products and that the rule is subject to federal funding levels.

"Sharpening our detection tools to identify noncompliant toys and infant products represents important progress in an ever-changing electronic global marketplace. But even for regulated products, this rule offers no guarantees. That is, the rule enhances the current targeting approach, but it does not preclude noncompliant products from entering the country," Boyle said.

Furthermore, "we must be forthright about the budgetary context in which this rule is being adopted. To say the least, the agency is facing a challenging and uncertain funding environment. Adopting this rule is committing the agency to long term IT resource requirements that may be difficult to meet in the future," Boyle continued.

This final rule gets short-term funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, a COVID-19 pandemic stimulus measure that is expiring, "and the agency will need to tap a yet unidentified funding stream to sustain the effort going forward on a long-term basis," Boyle said. "With this rule, the agency seeks to mitigate risk -- which I fully support -- but we are also taking on other risks -- financial and programmatic -- if we do not receive the funds necessary to sustain a sophisticated technology infrastructure or face sweeping cuts to other vital CPSC program areas to support the e-filing program."