CPSC Final Rule on Manufacturer Notification When Revealing Product Information to Public
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a final rule amending 16 CFR Part 1101 to reflect amendments made by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) to the information disclosure regulations under section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA).
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Section 6(b) establishes company notification procedures that the CPSC must follow when it releases information to the public from which the identity of the manufacturer or private labeler of a product can be readily ascertained (e.g., when CPSC releases data on consumer complaints associated with a certain type of product in response to a specific public request, etc.
(Section 6(b) and the 16 CFR Part 1101 regulations apply to information on products subject to the CPSA, the Flammable Fabrics Act, (FFA); the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (PPPA); the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA); and the Refrigerator Safety Act (RSA). The final rule also applies the Section 6(b) provisions to the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act and the Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act.)
The CPSIA amendments affect the numerous acts listed above, and:
- shorten the time periods for notice and opportunity for firms to comment on public disclosure of their product-specific information;
- add "CPSIA-style" language which broadens the statutory exceptions to section 6(b) of the CPSA; and
- eliminate a CPSC Federal Register publication requirement that the CPSC had previously followed when it made a finding that the public health and safety require public disclosure within a lesser time period than required by section 6(b)(1).
Final Rule's Effective Date
The final rule's amendments are effective immediately upon their publication in the Federal Register, (i.e. November 28, 2008) and cover all requests for information received by the CPSC since the CPSIA's enactment on August 14, 2008.
Highlights of the final rule's 16 CFR Part 1101 amendments include the following provisions:
Shortened Information Disclosure Time Periods
The following are examples of the final rule's amendments to the information disclosure rules of 16 CFR Part 1101 which shorten certain time periods for firms to receive notice and/or provide comment (partial list):
Time for company comment reduced to 10 days. The CPSC gives manufacturers (including importers1) or private labelers of a product (collectively, manufacturers) a minimum number of calendar days from CPSC's transmission of a notice of its intent to publicly disclosure certain of that company's product-specific information to comment on the information. The final rule amends 16 CFR 1101.22(a)(1) to reduce this minimum number of calendar days for company comment from 20 to ten calendar days.
Time before disclosure occurs reduced to 15 days.The CPSC will not disclose such product information in fewer than a certain number of days after providing a manufacturer with the above opportunity to comment (unless it finds that the public health and safety requires a lesser period of notice). The final rule amends 16 CFR 1101.22(b)(2) to shorten this time period before public disclosure from 30 to 15 days.
Broader Exceptions from Requirement to Notify Manufacturers
The final rule broadens the exceptions to the required manufacturer notification under 16 CFR 1101.41(a). With the final rule's revision, CSPC does not need to meet the manufacturer notification requirements as described above, if it has reasonable cause to believe a product is in "violation of any consumer product safety rule or provision under the CPSA or similar rule or provision of any other act enforced by the CPSC".
(Previously, this exception to these notification requirements only applied to information about a product which the CPSC had reasonable cause to believe "violated the prohibited act section of one of the acts it administers, and the information was reasonably related to the alleged violations.")
1CPSC sources state that although the regulations only refer to manufacturers and private labelers, in actual practice, for imported goods, it usually notifies the importer about possible disclosure of company-specific product information, who then, if necessary, contacts the foreign manufacturer.
CPSC contact - Patricia Vieira (301) 504-7623
CPSC final rule (FR Pub 11/28/08) available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-28200.pdf