CPSC e-filing system seeks to improve process for importers

Companies with a record of filing timely, complete certificates of compliance can achieve a more efficient and quicker flow of goods through customs

HIGH POINT — The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s e-filing system for certificates of compliance aims to create an efficient and timely process for the filing of certificates of compliance for furniture and other consumer products subject to a mandatory safety standard.

It also aims to deal with the issue of companies that are not filing the required documents or that are keeping incomplete compliance records.

According to the American Home Furnishings Alliance, examples of furniture products that are subject to a mandatory safety standard include bunk beds, clothing storage units and furniture with a surface coating or painted finish that must comply with lead limits established in the Consumer Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

The AHFA added that importers must already maintain third-party testing to confirm they are complying with these safety standards, and that they must provide a paper copy to the CPSC upon request. However, the AHFA also noted that unless the agency received a complaint about a particular product or “had some other reason to suspect non-compliance,” the documents were seldom requested.

It noted that this allowed some importers to circumvent testing and certification. “Or even if they were adhering to the requirements for third-party testing, their record keeping may have been a little sloppy,” which officials said could result in some scrambling to locate the correct documents should the CPSC request either a General Certificate of Conformity or the Children’s Certificate of Compliance for children’s products.

The e-filing system now makes the documents more easily available to the customs officials.

“Smaller shipments or de minimis shipments as the CPSC calls them in its news release — were particularly difficult for CPSC to monitor,” the AHFA noted. “By requiring all certificates to be filed electronically, CPSC believes it can drive “greater efficiencies in product inspections and more effectively target high-risk products.”

As the CPSC also noted, e-filing also will reduce frequency and hold times for compliant importers. This rewards those companies that have a record of compliance by allowing their products to move more quickly through customs.

“We should probably assume the opposite will be true for product importers who are not compliant,” the AHFA noted.

The CPSC commissioners voted to approve the rule on Dec. 18. It includes an amendment that extends the general implementation date from 12 months to 18 months.

Thomas Russell

Home News Now Editor-in-Chief Thomas Russell has covered the furniture industry for 25 years at various daily and weekly consumer and trade publications. He can be reached at tom@homenewsnow.com and at 336-508-4616.

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