CPSC Emphasizes Priorities at ICPHSO Annual Meeting

Last November, the Commission voted to approve its Operating Plan for Fiscal Year 2024, the marching orders that outline how the CPSC will pursue its mandate to develop and enforce standards as well as research hazards and educate consumers and manufacturers.

This week, at the International Consumer Product Health and Safety (ICPHSO) Annual Meeting, CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric and Chief of Staff Jana Fong-Swamidoss delivered a Keynote Speech and sat on a panel respectively and reemphasized the CPSC's path in 2024.

The CPSC is focused on enforcing new rules, such as Reese's Law, but also remains interested in “staples" such as furniture tip-over hazards, durable nursery products, and adult portable bedrails. Additionally, the CPSC is reinvigorating efforts to screen retailers in underserved communities and conducting safety events for underserved populations.

The CPSC also reemphasized its reporting requirements under Section 15 (b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). And why is that important? The CPSC collected $52 million in civil penalties for late reporting last year, a 64% increase in penalties levied relative to FY 2022. This year, the CPSC has already collected $25 million in civil penalties. Moreover, a jury last December convicted two corporate executives of conspiracy and failure to report information about defective residential humidifiers as required by the CPSA. It was the first ever criminal conviction of corporate executives for failure to report under the CPSA.

The CPSC will likely continue its aggressive enforcement efforts, at least for the rest of this year. Despite expected budget cuts, it will rely on tools such as its eCommerce, Surveillance, Analysis, Field, and Enforcement (ESAFE) arm, an online surveillance team, which found 50,000 products out of compliance with safety standards last year, to detect recalled and defective products in the marketplace. 

If you have any questions about the CPSC or any other product safety concerns, please contact one of the individuals listed above or your Mintz attorney.