North American Regulators Discuss Joint Safety Projects

Expect CPSC staff, by the end of the year, to seek updates to UL 1310 on class 2 power units. Viewers of a virtual session during the 5th North American Consumer Product Safety Summit heard that the move is prompted by joint activity among CPSC, Health Canada, and PROFECO, beginning in 2018 (PSL, 2/26/18).

Outcomes included numerous stop-sale and recall actions on the continent in 2019 and 2020. Further, Health Canada already is working in the voluntary standards area on updates, and Mexico has made changes. The three agencies detailed their concerns and four testing ideas in a late 2018 letter still online at bit.ly/2GcCTPi.

A newer trilateral project – on lithium-ion power banks – was delayed by lab closures due to the pandemic. Expect that activity to pick up as access allows.

The two-day summit September 22-23 included sessions on e-commerce during the pandemic, senior safety, the Internet of Things, and safety by design. Expect those to be future focus areas. Indeed, the session ended with the reading of a joint declaration that included a statement that future work would be "informed by the presentations."

Moreover, discussions went beyond North America and included input from those beyond the continent.

Release of the statement is forthcoming.