CPSC Gives Final Approval to e-Filing Pilot, Moves From Ten Data Elements to Five

CPSC had originally intended to require complete electronic certificates of compliance totaling ten data elements, according to a draft Federal Register notice circulated before the vote (here). The move to five data elements reflects a “collaborative approach” where the agency worked with the trade community to address industry concerns, said Kaye. A CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) work group on the pilot and the Retail Industry Leaders Association had each asked CPSC to limit the number of data elements required to only those necessary to improve import surveillance, said Commissioner Joseph Mohorovic, who voted in favor of the amendment.

Kaye’s amendment carried 4-1, with only Commissioner Ann Marie Buerkle voting against. According to Buerkle, Kaye’s amendment did not go far enough to decouple certificate filing from CPSC's Risk Assessment Methodology targeting efforts. Customs brokers filing on behalf of importers would still have to get their importers’ certificates of compliance to provide CBP with some of the five data elements still required under Kaye’s amendment, such as the identity of the testing facility associated with the shipment. Buerkle offered her own amendment cutting the number of required data elements to two -- the identity and address of all manufacturers of products in the entry, as well as a product ID such as a UPC code – that she said would be available to the broker without having to go to the importer for the certificate. Her amendment failed 4-1, with only Buerkle voting in favor.

Single Data Element ‘Registry’ Option Still Available

The amended pilot notice retains the option for filers to submit a single data element referencing information previously submitted in an online agency “registry” (see 1503120069). Filers that wish to submit all five data elements for every entry will also have that ability. The five data elements adopted in the amended version of the e-filing pilot are as follows:

• Identification of the finished product;
• Each consumer product safety rule to which the finished product has been certified;
• Place where the finished product was manufactured, produced, or assembled, including the identity and address of the manufacturing party;
• Parties on whose testing a certificate depends (name and contact information of the testing entity); and
• A check box indicating that a required certificate currently exists for the finished product.

Other changes in the amended notice include the elimination of a target date for beginning the pilot, which the previous draft notice had said to be July 13, 2016, as well as a new requirement that participants in the pilot be willing to participate in the Trade Support Network. The importance of the TSN as a forum for the continued development of CPSC e-filing requirements was repeatedly stressed during the hearing on the pilot notice. Meanwhile, the amended notice continues to limit the number of participants to a maximum of nine.

Pilot Expanded to Non-Certificate ‘Substantial Hazard List’ Products

A second amendment adopted by the commission at the meeting will expand the universe of products eligible for participation in the pilot to include some that do not require certificates. Offered by Commissioner Mohorovic, the amendment adds hand-supported hair dryers, extension cords, and seasonal and decorative lighting products – which are on CPSC’s Substantial Product Hazard list but do not require certificates of compliance -- to the products that filers may choose for e-filing. Previously, the notice had only allowed e-filing for products that require certificates. Mohorovic said the intent of the amendment is to clarify that the e-filing effort is meant to improve CPSC’s targeting efforts for all dangerous products, not just those that Congress has decided require certificates.

The amendment carried 4-1, with only Commissioner Buerkle voting against. Buerkle was concerned that the amendment greatly expanded the scope of e-filing at the “last minute” without allowing enough time for debate and discussion.

Earlier in the meeting, Buerkle asked CPSC Director of Import Surveillance Carol Cave whether pilot participants will be able to pick and choose individual products for e-filing rather than having to move wholesale to the new process. Cave said she had been asked the question by several companies, and reiterated that participants will be able to choose an individual commodity and “stick with it” throughout the pilot, without having to go “full steam ahead” and change their entire system.

The e-pilot, first announced by Buerkle in November (see 1411100043), comes in response to concern from importers over the additional burden they face should CPSC associate electronic certificates with entry filing (see 14032025), as the agency proposed in May 2013 (see 13051018). CPSC most recently said the pilot will begin in July 2016 (see 1507290065).