July 8, 2009

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By Product Safety Letter staff

CPSC earlier this year launched a service by which companies that make Section 15 reports via the web will receive an exact copy of the report and an official record that CPSC staff have received it. Receipts of Section 15 reports could be important if questions arise about whether or when a company reported a problem. Section 15 deficiencies in recent years have been the most common reason that companies pay civil penalties related to CPSC statutes, and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act increased those penalties – from $5,000 to $100,000 per violation and from $1.25 million to $15 million for series of violations.

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The agency’s web portal for Section 15 reports is at www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/sec15.aspx, and it contains fill-in fields for such information. Examples of fields include general and specific descriptions of the product, information about the defect or problem, how and when the company discovered it, discussion of known injuries, information about other companies (suppliers, retailers) involved, and corrective actions taken. It also contains ways to inform CPSC of confidentiality concerns and fast-track recall desires.

About the portal, the agency stressed:

"CPSC staff strongly encourages firms that need to file Section 15 reports to do so using the Web portal rather than by telephone, whenever possible. You can make a Web-based Section 15 report at virtually any time of day or night and on the weekends (except during occasional periods of system maintenance). The Web-based approach also gets your report to the right people in the Office of Compliance more quickly than a telephone report, which CPSC staff must enter by hand.”

Our goal is to improve the efficiency and timeliness with which we process reports and begin working with you to determine whether action is needed to protect the safety of consumers. The quicker manufacturers, retailers and importers report to CPSC, the greater the chance we can prevent incidents or injuries."

As for civil penalties, the agency also has a project to look at factors involved in assessing such fines (PSL, 11/24/08, p. 1). Commenters among regulated Industry (PSL, 2/16/09, p. 4) recently expressed concern about the agency’s increased civil penalty powers. Among suggestions were to consider good-faith efforts (especially by retailers and distributors who do not control production) to ensure safety and quality, to take into account the likelihood that a violation would lead to injury, and to remember that companies still are learning what are and are not violative acts under the CPSIA.

After filing a report, consider that the law also requires the agency to create guidelines for the content of recall notices. Although not all Section 15 reports lead to recalls -- and the content rules technically cover only rare mandatory recalls, the in-the-works guidelines represent what facts CPSC wants in recalls and are nothing new. Indeed, much of what is proposed stems from the agency’s long-standing Recall Handbook and Recall Checklist to which CPSC directs companies planning voluntary actions.

See also our recent related story, The Facts You Need to Establish When Planning a Recall.

Portions of this article appeared in the April 20, 2009 edition of our premium sister service, Product Safety Letter. It is just one of the hundreds of similar stories that subscribers read over the course of an annual subscription. Subscription information is here