CPSC at ICPHSO: Reese’s Law and Mandatory eFiling Requirement

In this final installment of our series (see part 1, part 2, and part 3) discussing CPSC’s presence at the 2024 International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization’s annual symposium, we present two smaller, but important, CPSC updates: Implementation of Reese’s Law and the upcoming mandatory eFiling requirements for importers.

CPSC’s Small Business Ombudsman and Reese’s Law Overview. Stephen Lee, CPSC’s Small Business Ombudsman, provided attendees with an overview of the Small Business Ombudsman’s activities, which include providing plain language guidance to industry, acting as a liaison between small businesses and CPSC staff, and providing training and outreach to small businesses. He highlighted CPSC’s Regulatory Robot, which provides users with an effective tool to determine potentially applicable requirements for a particular consumer product.

Mr. Lee also provided a detailed breakdown of the recently enacted Reese’s law, which imposes packaging, labeling, and performance requirements for button cell and coin batteries and consumer products containing button cell and coin batteries, which we previously summarized.

Preparing for Mandatory eFiling Requirements. Arthur Laciak, an eFiling program specialist from CPSC, discussed the upcoming e-filing requirements with representatives from three companies that have been participating in CPSC’s eFiling pilot program. Mr. Laciak provided an overview of the upcoming requirement that importers upload certificates for regulated, imported goods. CPSC plans to issue a proposed rule to govern mandatory eFiling in the next month, at which point firms will be able to use eFiling on a voluntary basis until the final rule is issued. The date eFiling becomes mandatory will be determined when a final rule is published in the Federal Register. CPSC has provided guidance material on the upcoming requirements. According to CPSC Executive Director Austin Schlick, data obtained through eFiled certificates will allow inspectors to better target higher-risk shipments, which will necessarily reduce inspections and hold times for lower-risk shipments.

Representatives for firms participating in the pilot program encouraged importers in the audience to start reviewing their IT systems now to ensure they have the capability to eFile certificates when the rule goes into effect.