New TIC Council Explains Role to Commissioners

Representatives of TIC Council September 10 visited CPSC members. The group formed in June as a merger of the International Federation of Inspection Agencies (IFIA) and the International Confederation of Inspection and Certification Organisations (CEOC). TIC stands for testing, inspection and certification, and its members perform such activities.

PSL attended the session in Commissioner Robert Adler's office with staff from Commission Elliot Kaye's there too. Discussion was mostly at the get-to-know level. Topics covered issues that should be familiar to regular PSL readers:

• CPSC's historical shift from focus mainly on acute mechanical risks to also looking at chronic hazards, notably recent attention to organohalogen flame retardants.

 

• Whether and how the Internet of Things will produce product safety challenges.

 

• The difficulties with controlling and ensuring the safety of products sold on ecommerce platforms.

 

• The need to increase and improve consumer participation on standards development panels.

 

• Challenges of smaller companies in affording testing.

 

• CPSC's focus on vulnerable populations, especially children, but also seniors.