The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent agency the U.S. government uses to promote and regulate safe consumer products. It was created by Congress in 1972 to develop uniform product safety standards and research product-related injury and illness. The agency oversees consumer product recalls, and it has not slowed down one bit in the face of the Covid-19 coronavirus epidemic.
All businesses are required to provide safe products, and this global pandemic has amplified its efforts, if anything. The CSPC released its annual Midyear Adjustments without public briefing and is continuing to push out regulations in the midst of everything happening. The agency is making it clear that Section 15(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act is in full effect during the Covid-19 crisis.
It brings up the question of what we can expect from the CPSC moving forward in 2020. Let’s talk about.
What the CPSC Does
The CPSC was created by Congress to provide a safety blanket for consumers. It’s one of the main agencies (next to the Food and Drug Administration) running and regulating recalls in the United States. The CPSC has six essential responsibilities to the government and its constituents.
1. Work with industry standards organizations, manufacturers, and businesses to develop voluntary standards (i.e. the N95 designation on N95 masks).
2. Issue and enforce mandatory standards on products, banning those for which no standard protection is feasible.
3. Research potential consumer product hazards.
4. Organize and regulate product recalls, whether repair, replacement, or refund.
5. Inform and educate the public on issues of consumer safety, including recall notifications.
6. Educate global manufacturers on its supply chain regulations and the development of safe products.
Peter Feldmen currently serves as CPSC Commissioner, and he confirmed to the media that the Agency is working hard to comply with social-distancing guidelines affecting employees worldwide. Its employees are now telecommuting and adjusting to the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic in order to enforce Section 15(b) of the CPSA, which defines the notification requirements of manufacturers within the CPSC’s jurisdiction, including:
1. Products that fail to comply with applicable consumer product safety rule.
2. Products that fail to comply with any other rule, regulation, standard, or ban.
3. Products with a defect that could create a potential hazard, and
4. Products that create unreasonable injury or death risk.
Notification must occur within 24 hours of finding out such a thing. With a global pandemic on our hands, everybody needs to pay attention to the CPSC to ensure we follow their recommendations. Here’s what they have to say about doing business (and recalls) during the coronavirus pandemic.
CPSC’s Stance on the Coronavirus
Despite being stringent and strict, the agency does understand manufacturers in every industry around the world are experiencing disruptions. Social distancing and telework have become the new norm, and the CPSC’s “business as usual stance” does account for the extraordinary circumstances we’re all experiencing. They are compassionate in their commitment to pursuing continued customer safety.
This means the Agency isn’t going after technical violations and pursuing aggressive action against companies trying to do the right thing. It sent notice to companies letting them know of their understanding, while still emphasizing Section 15(b) reporting obligations and timelines are not being relaxed. Compliance at the federal level is operating at full capacity, and its legal and compliance teams are available for any questions you may have about the process.
With this said, you shouldn’t go into the recall process alone. An automated recall management platform will ensure things run smoothly. That’s where Trievr comes in.
Automate Your Recall Process
Like the CPSC, there’s a good chance you’re working virtually as well. Social distancing guidelines make the cloud more important than ever. Trievr is a cloud-based, SaaS solution that can manage your recall process from anywhere in the world. It can orchestrate all customer communications, satisfy CPSC and other agency reporting, and keep everything running smoothly.
Best of all – it can be set up in minutes.
All you need to do is import your company’s data and recall information, and our intelligent systems will handle the rest in an intuitive, easy-to-read GUI. You’ll have instant access to all reporting and can notify stakeholders working at the office or at home. Trievr even has a staffed customer service line set up to handle any detailed questions your customers may have about the recall process. We thought of it all.
Contact Trievr to get your recall management process started today. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to accomplish, even during the novel coronavirus pandemic.