Commission OKs Tighter Focus for PGA Message Set in E-Filing Pilot

Correction: An earlier version of this story said the amendment by Commissioner Mohorovic failed. It passed.

CPSC will be focusing on a tighter set of priority data elements under the e-filing pilot approved 4-1. This was the primary change in the substitute proposal offered by Chairman Elliot Kaye. Staffers' briefing package (PSL, 8/10/15) had listed 10 items under discussion of the full partner government agency (PGA) message set. Kaye’s amendment pared that down to five. He said four are staff priorities and an additions aims to address CPSC’s handling of products under its jurisdiction but not requiring compliance certificates.

Retained and added items:

• Identification of the finished product.
• Each consumer product safety rule covered.
• Place of manufacture/production/assembly, including identity and address of the manufacturer.
• The name and contact information of the testing facility on which the certificate depends.
• A checkbox to show that a required certificate exists.

Removed items:

• Certificate date.
• Scope of product covered.
• Certifier’s name and contact information.
• Custodian of test results or links to records.
• Date of manufacture (place retained for the pilot).
• Date and place of testing or statement of exclusions.
• Attestation of compliance.

Kaye’s substitution also expanded the discussion of legal authorities. The goal was getting possibilities onto the record, he said, but the expansion should not been seen as an indication of where the commission intends to go. “That [answer] is the whole point of the pilot,” he observed.

Commissioner Joseph Mohorovic sought to include three categories subject to 15(j) rules (hair dryers, extension cords, and seasonal/decorative lighting). His amendment passed 4-1 with Commissioner Ann Marie Buerkle the negative vote.

Buerkle sought to cut the data elements to two: identification of the product and the name/address of the manufacturer if not included via the manufacturer identification (MID) code. Her amendment failed 1-4 with her as the positive vote.

Buerkle was the negative on the final vote. Kaye’s approved substitute is at 1.usa.gov/1URbEsp. Mohorovic's approved amendment is at 1.usa.gov/1hWgg2g.

See the August 21 Federal Register for information on applying by October 5 to participate. A maximum of nine volunteers will work with agency staff to develop the pilot, set to start in July 2016 and run for six months with possible extension.

The CPSIA sets up two situations needing certificates. A General Certificate of Conformity (GCCs) attests to use of a reasonable testing program for a product subject to a consumer product safety rule. A Children’s Product Certificate (CPC) adds the requirement that the testing be third-party. Section 1110 of the law addresses certificates. CPSC’s proposed “1110 rule (PSL, 11/ 17/14) is on hold pending completion of the pilot because relevant lessons might arise.

CPSC will run the e-filing pilot with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). An impetus of the work is the larger federal move towards “single window” entry for importers to deal with multiple agencies. A 2014 executive order from President Barack Obama set up a December 2016 deadline.

Although CPSC, as an independent agency, is not subject to that schedule, Kaye has said (PSL, 6/8/15) it is a priority to limit the time the agency operates outside that system.