CPSC Trying to Mirror CBP Timeframe for Detention Notices, Discusses Imports & Penalties

Focus on Imports: Has Added Staff at Ports, Working with CBP, Etc.

According to the CPSC official, prior to February 2008, import surveillance was not a very big issue at CPSC. However, since the February 2008 creation of CPSC’s Import Surveillance team, this has changed dramatically, and CPSC is now:

• Staffed at ports - staffed with about 20 officers at ports;
• Accessing CBP data - accessing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data through the Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC), which allows CPSC to more easily stop questionable merchandise;
• Expanding ISA pilot -- working on the Importer Safety Assessment Product Safety (ISA-PS) pilot program, which is an off-shoot of CBP’s ISA program. A few companies are involved and CPSC is inviting more in. It is looking at supply chain safety and how it can speed the import process for participating parties.
• Involved with ITDS, ACE, etc. - more involved with ITDS, ACE, and other import initiatives;
• Working on risk assessment methodology - working on its own Risk Assessment Methodology to ensure it doesn’t stop trade if it doesn’t have to;
• Updating obsolete regs - updating its import regulations so importers recognize them as being applicable to them as some of them date to 1972 and reference obsolete terms and processes.

Detention Notices: CPSC Trying to Mirror CBP’s Timeframe, Encourage Dialogue

Though most of the information on detention notices repeated previous CPSC presentations (e.g., that CPSC’s detention notices will generally be in lieu of CBP-issued notices, that they will contain a CPSC contact and information on the potential violation, that conditional release of the merchandise may be allowed while CPSC resolves the detention, that penalties apply for failure to redeliver, etc.), the official added details on the following:

• Trying to mirror CBP timing -- The official stated that unlike CBP, CPSC does not have specific statutory requirements regarding detentions. However, CPSC is trying to mirror the timeframes importers have become accustomed to with CBP. Therefore, they are trying to get CPSC detention notices out in business five days and resolve the matter within 30.

• May hear from domestic investigators - For the most part, CPSC has dedicated import inspectors at the ports, but where they do not, importers might hear from field investigators. These CPSC staff persons have traditionally done mostly domestic work, but are being increasingly tapped for import purposes.

• Giving importers chance to talk to HQ -- He added that not only is CPSC informing importers which CPSC officer at the port or in the field to contact regarding the detention, CPSC is also giving importers an opportunity to take the issue back to a compliance officer at headquarters if they feel they are not getting a “fair hearing” on the issue.

• Want to foster conditional release. The CPSC official emphasized that the agency wants to foster conditional release of detained merchandise whenever possible, since it realizes the costs involved with holding merchandise at a port. He encouraged the trade to always ask about this option. He added that if CPSC does conditionally release the remaining merchandise pending testing of samples, it will try to estimate how long its testing will take.

• Happy to approve export/destruction before decision. Once an importer gets a detention notice, they should feel free to ask CPSC about the possibility of exporting or destroying the product if they prefer those options. CPSC is happy to approve either before it makes a final decision on the detained product. CPSC again notes that exportation after a product is seized is significantly more complicated, as the CPSIA was written to give preference to destruction over export of non-complying products.

CPSIA: Broadened Prohibited Acts and Increased Penalties

The CPSC official also reminded the trade that the CPSIA broadened the prohibited acts under CPSC’s authority. It is now a prohibited act to import any product that does not conform with a CPSC rule, standard, regulation or ban. It is also a prohibited act to import recalled products. In addition, failure to present a certificate of conformity (either a General Conformity Certificate or Children’s Product Certificate) or to present a false certificate of conformity is a prohibited act.

He also discussed the increase in civil penalties that CPSC can now impose - up to $100,000 per violation (from $8,000) with a maximum of $15 million (from $1.8 million) for any related series of violations.

He added that CPSC also monitors the letters of advice it sends companies telling them about any violations. If multiple letters go out to the same company and they don’t seem to be “getting it,” CPSC has a separate penalty authority for seeking injunctive relief. This operates as a “quasi negotiation or compromise agreement” between the firm and CPSC. CPSC can even use this authority to stop a firm from importing as it did with the importer Daiso. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 03/04/10 news, 10030405, for BP summary of the Daiso case.)

(See ITT’s Online Archives or 10/15/10 news, 10101519, for BP summary of similar CPSC comments in a series of Fall 2010 webinars.)