The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008 (Public Law 110-314) expanded the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) role in making sure consumer products are safe, especially those designed for children. Importers are required to certify in writing (Certification of Conformity) that products being imported into the U.S. conform to the rules, bans, regulations or standards administered or enforced by the CPSC. Products that do not conform to these standards will be detained by the CPSC.

Highlights of the Certification of Conformity requirements:

• The certification must be based on a test of each product, or a reasonable testing program, and must include the date and place of testing as well as the rule, standard, or regulation for which the product was tested and is being certified.
• The place the product was manufactured and the date of manufacture must be indicated.
• The certificate must include the complete contact information of the importer and the person maintaining the test result records upon which the certification is based.
• All required information on the certificate must be in English.
• Each shipment must be accompanied by the required certificate (electronic access to the certificate is acceptable). As well, each distributor or retailer of the product must have a reasonable means (electronic or otherwise) to access the certificate.

Frequently Asked Questions and a sample of a general Certification of Conformity/Certification of Compliance can be found at the CPSC website.

For more information, please visit the CPSC website and the CPSIA website.

Risk Assessment

On April 26, 2010, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the CPSC signed an agreement to give the CPSC access to pre-arrival shipment data for product safety risk assessment, and to identify shipments for examination.

Detention Procedure

On June 14, 2010, the CPSC implemented the use of its detention authority and now issues any notices of detention directly to the importer with copies to the CBP and the customs broker. Under this new procedure there is no longer any involvement with the detention process by the CBP (unless there is also a CBP violation) other than as custodians of the merchandise until the detention requirements have been resolved. For questions relating to a detention, contact the CPSC officer listed on the notice of detention.