IAAPA Submits Comments on CPSIA Database

Last week IAAPA submitted a comment on the proposed rule on the Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database. The database was a controversial part of the Consumer Product Safety Information Act (CPSIA), that was enacted in late 2008 and made drastic changes to existing consumer protection law in the United States.


Once the database is active, consumers, government agencies, health care professionals, child service providers, and public safety officials will be able to file a report about harmful consumer product. Manufacturers and private labelers can register to be notified by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) if a report is filed about their products. A manufacturer will have 10 days to respond after being contacted by the CPSC, and then the report will be published on a website, Saferproducts.gov.



Because the database is mandated by law, the CPSC must establish it by March 2011. Like most of the CPSIA, the CPSC does not have a lot of regulatory flexibility, but through rulemakings such as this one, the industry has the chance to offer comments on the proposal.



Now that the comment period is over, the CPSC will consider all the comments it received and create a final rule on the database, which should be available sometime this fall or winter. Keep watching the blog, your e-mail, and our website for updates. And thank you to those IAAPA members who submitted comments on this important issue.