CPSC Issues Proposed Rule on Public Product Safety Database

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a proposed rule that would establish a publicly available consumer product safety information database.

Comments are due July 23, 2010.

Would Interpret CPSIA Requirements on Reports of Harm, Mfr Comments, Etc.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) requires CPSC to establish and maintain a database on the safety of consumer products and other products or substances regulated by CPSC. The database must be publicly available, searchable, and accessible through CPSC’s Web site. It is required to be established by March 2011.

The proposed rule would interpret the various statutory requirements pertaining to the information to be included in the database. Therefore, it would establish provisions on the public submission of reports of harm regarding consumer products and other products or substances regulated by CPSC; manufacturer comments on these reports of harm; timing for submission and publication of reports and comments in the database; and the handling of confidential and materially inaccurate information.

See future issue of ITT for BP summary of the proposed rule.

(See ITT’s Online Archives or 04/06/10 and 04/20/10 news, 10040620 and 10042025, for BP summaries of a draft version of the proposed rule and CPSC’s approval and staff comments on the rule, respectively.

See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/23/09 and 11/12/09 news, 09122315 and 09111210, for BP summaries of CPSC announcement of a workshop on the database and its listening to industry concerns about the database.

See ITT’s Online Archives or 09/15/09 news, 09091515, for BP summary of CPSC’s report to Congress on its plans for the public database.)

CPSC Commissioner comments on the proposed rule available here.