The Consumer Product Safety Commission held a public meeting last week to discuss issues of testing and certification under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The meeting followed up on a September meeting regarding the accreditation of laboratories for third-party testing.

Readers of MassTortDefense will recall from other posts that the legislation increased CPSC budget, staff, and enforcement powers. The law mandates reduction of the amount of lead in toys; calls for third-party testing of certain children’s products; raises allowable penalties for violations. And the Act has a number of potentially vexatious provisions for product sellers, including a broad protection of so-called employee whistleblowers. Such employees falling under the Act can seek to get their job back temporarily, and then after a hearing, permanently, with back pay, attorney fees, expert witness fees, and undefined compensatory damages. The former employee apparently needs to show that one, but not the only, reason for the firing was probably that the worker was or was about to start complaining about a product safety issue. It may be that prudent sellers will want train their management teams about the new provisions.

A second controversial provision was the move that state attorneys general can now take enforcement actions and seek the penalties that the commission could have. The aggressive approach of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) members in the past may suggest that prudent national manufacturers who learn of a potentially substantial product safety situation will be better off negotiating a settlement with the federal agency rather than have the issue battled out in multiple state courts.

Third, the Act’s emphasis on independent lab certification of various products has caused some larger companies that have their own testing laboratories to consider divesting in-house laboratories.

At the meeting, participants discussed the requirement for certification of general conformity with all applicable requirements under any of the Acts administered by the CPSC, which becomes effective in November of this year. In response to questions on what the certificates should look like, CPSC plans to post a sample certificate on its Web site.

Officials of the CPSC assured attendees they are not out to play “gotcha” with manufacturers and importers, but the agency wants to ensure full compliance with the product certification requirements of the new law. There are significant penalties for noncompliance, including the destruction of imported goods that are not certified. When a product is imported, the foreign manufacturer and the importer both must certify that the product complies with all requirements, unless the commission exempts one or the other. Certification is required for products that are subject to a standard or ban, and are imported into the United States for consumption or warehousing. The Act provides that if there is no certificate, or a false certificate is furnished, the products will be refused entry. If the products are refused admittance into the United States, they may be destroyed, and the costs of destroying the products will be paid by the owner or consignee.

CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy A. Nord has agreed that the new law is “incredibly complex,” and the agency will have to undertake about 40 new rulemakings to flesh out its provisions.  Among the likely forthcoming rules that will require certification are lead content, infant and toddler products, toys, phthalate, ATVs, drain covers for pools, and others.

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