On September 10, 2024, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or the Commission) published a notice extending the comment period for its expansion of the eFiling Beta Pilot Test to October 10, 2024. This extension is referred to by CPSC staff in training materials as the “eFiling voluntary stage” to differentiate it from the initial Beta Pilot Test, which ended in June 2024. The initial Beta Pilot Test was conducted in consultation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which will also be involved in the “eFiling voluntary stage.” CPSC continues work on a revised rule on Certificates of Compliance (CoC or certificates), 16 C.F.R. Part 1110 (Rule 1110), which would establish requirements for eFiling of CoC data. (We previously wrote about the proposed revisions to CoCs here.) CPSC’s current proposal would impose onerous new requirements for importers to pair each product with its own CoC, including exclusion codes for products subject to certain exemptions. CPSC also created a list of disclaim codes for products outside CPSC’s jurisdiction, suggesting that importers should include this information in shipping documents to avoid hold-ups at the ports. With the extension of the comment period for expansion of the eFiling Beta Pilot Test, finalization of at least the eFiling requirements will almost certainly be delayed beyond this month (in training sessions, CPSC staff noted that “rollout” of final eFiling requirements is not expected until 2025). As the CoC proposed rule and eFiling initiative are intertwined, importers should keep a close watch on the timing of both. Read more here.
