Federal Laws and Regulations
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008
(PL 110-314)
SIGNED INTO LAW
August 14, 2008
REGULATED BY
Consumer Product Safety Commission, www.cpsc.gov
SUMMARY OF MAJOR POINTS
The Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972 (CPSA) established the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Under this law and four other federal laws, CPSC has the authority to develop standards to reduce risks of injury associated with consumer products, to ban products if no standard is feasible and to pursue recalls for products that present a substantial product hazard. CPSC also has the authority to ban a hazardous substance if it decides that hazardous material labeling is insufficient to protect the public and to ban articles intended for use by children which present a mechanical, electrical or thermal hazard. CPSC can request voluntary product recalls or impose mandatory recalls that can be accompanied by stop-sale orders.
CPSA requires retailers, manufacturers and other companies in a distribution chain to report products that 1) have a defect that creates a substantial risk of injury; 2) create a risk of serious injury or death or 3) violate a consumer product safety standard or product ban.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) gives additional authority to CPSC in several areas and imposes additional requirements on retailers and other members of a distribution chain. Many of the provisions apply to children’s products, but some apply to all consumer products.
A new lead in paint standard will affect hardware/home center retailers. CPSIA lowers the acceptable amount of lead in paint to 0.009 percent from the current 0.06 percent for children’s products and paint sold for consumer use. CPSC issued a final rule that Aug. 14, 2009, is the effective date for the lower limit and that after that date paint with higher lead content will be treated as a banned hazardous substance. CPSC’s general counsel said that the rule would be retroactive, banning the sale of paint with more than 0.009 percent lead after Aug. 14, 2009, including inventory already on store shelves.
CPSIA provisions affecting consumer products in general include:
Upon request from CPSC, retailers (and distributors and importers) must identify the manufacturer of a product under scrutiny by name, address or other known or readily determined information. Manufacturers would have to provide the same type of information about their customers. Consumer products are also supposed to carry tracking labels that go back to the manufacturing source.
Employees of retailers, manufacturers, distributors and private labelers receive whistleblower protections for reporting violations of CPSIA or any other federal law enforced by CPSC. This would include CPSA, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the Flammable Fabrics Act, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act and the Refrigerator Safety Act.
CPSC is required to establish and maintain a database on the safety of products and substances regulated by the CPSC. This database is to be available on the CPSC Web site. It is to contain reports received by CPSC from consumers, government agencies, health care professionals, child service providers and public safety entities as well as information derived by CPSC through corrective action programs.
State attorneys general have new authority to initiate product safety actions in federal courts. The law specifically pre-empts California’s Proposition 65 from federal law, but is not clear on whether it pre-empts other state product safety laws.
CPSIA provisions affecting children’s products include:
The law establishes lead levels for children’s products and bans products containing higher levels. Lead limits phase-in, beginning 180 days after enactment.
The law defines a children’s product as a consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger. Factors that are considered in determining a children’s product include statements from manufacturers, including labeling, packaging, promotion and advertising, as to whether their products are appropriate for use by children and whether products are commonly recognized by consumers as intended for children’s use. In addition to toys, children’s products can include cribs, strollers, high chairs, etc.
Children’s products are to be tested and certified by third party entities as complying with the appropriate safety rule and manufacturers are to provide copies of those certificates to distributors and retailers.
Advertising, including online, catalogs and other printed materials, that provides a means for direct purchasing is to include any cautionary statements about the safety of the product.
COMPLIANCE
Maximum civil penalties are increased to $100,000 for one violation and $15 million for a series of related violations.
DISCLAIMER
The information provided here is designed only to alert retailers of possible obligations under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (PL 110-314). It is not intended as legal or compliance advice. This summary is not all-inclusive; many details are not included. More information is available from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, www.cpsc.gov.