The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is a federal regulatory agency created by the Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972 (CPSA). It has jurisdiction over more than 15,000 types of consumer products and is charged with protecting the public against unreasonable risks of injury and death.

The CPSC administers and enforces the following statutes:

Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 2051–2089: Authorizes the CPSC to create mandatory safety standards, bans, order companies to conduct corrective actions and recalls, issue civil and criminal penalties, and maintain a publicly searchable incident database, SaferProducts.gov, of consumer reports of harm. Section 15(b) of the CPSA is a key aspect of the law that requires mandatory reporting of regulatory violations and other safety concerns, including defects that could present substantial product hazards.

Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1261–1278a: Governs the labeling and, where necessary, banning of hazardous household substances (toxic, corrosive, flammable, etc.), including certain children’s product requirements.

Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1191–1204: Authorizes the CPSC to create flammability standards for clothing textiles, children’s sleepwear, mattresses, and carpets.

Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1471–1477: Requires child-resistant (and senior-friendly) packaging for specified household substances and drugs.

The CPSC also enforces several statutes that amended or were folded into the framework above, including the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) (Pub. L. 110-314), which added key requirements such as lead limits, phthalate restrictions, the toy safety standard, and safety standards for durable infant and nursery products. The CPSIA became the first law of its kind in the world requiring mandatory third-party testing and certification of children’s products in a Children’s Product Certificate. The CPSIA also dramatically increased the maximum amount of civil penalties that the agency could impose on companies that failed to comply with the CPSC’s laws.

Other statutes include the Child Safety Protection Act; the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (VGBA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 8001–8008; the Children’s Gasoline Burn Prevention Act (CGBPA); the Refrigerator Safety Act (RSA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1211–1214; the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015 (CNPPA); Drywall Safety Act of 2012 (DSA); the Portable Fuel Container Safety Act of 2020 (PFCSA), 15 U.S.C. § 2056d; and the Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth Act (STURDY).

What should I do if I receive a CPSC letter?

While a short email acknowledging receipt is appropriate, do not provide any substantive written responses directly to the agency before consulting qualified counsel. Even an initial explanation that seems harmless and is provided to agency early in an investigation can cause trouble later. Gather and preserve every document related to the product, compile your compliance and testing records, and book a call with us within 24 to 48 hours. Most CPSC letters carry short response deadlines, typically between five to ten business days, and demonstrating engagement and responsiveness to the CPSC’s concerns is important.

What happens during a CPSC investigation?

A CPSC investigation usually begins with a letter requesting information about one of your products. The agency may ask for testing documents, incident data, design and engineering change documents, sales records, and more. Under federal law, they are entitled to this information. Analyzing this information and drafting your initial response to the CPSC is where a lawyer adds the most value, because the right framing can keep a routine inquiry from escalating into a broader crisis.

What is a Section 15(b) report and do I have to file one?

Section 15(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act requires companies to report to the CPSC when they obtain information that reasonably supports the conclusion that a product (i) contains a defect that could create a substantial product hazard, (ii) fails to comply with a mandatory safety rule, regulation, or requirement, or (iii) creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death.

While some parts of the definition, like a failure to comply with a mandatory safety rule, regulation, or requirement, are clear, the language of “reasonably supports” and a “substantial product hazard” is vague and unhelpful in many cases.

There is no “bright line” and, for this reason, CPSC encourages companies to follow the principle, “When in doubt, report.” Companies cannot necessarily wait to report until they fully understand if a product has an issue, how that issue may present itself during consumer use, the precise failure mode, or whether the issue presents a risk of harm.

However, reporting to the CPSC, without first understanding your rights, obligations, and best practices may inadvertently lead to problems with the CPSC which could otherwise have been avoided with proper advice.

CPSC’s regulations are broad and include alleged defects with respect to a product’s design, manufacture, or warnings. The CPSC provides the following factors to be considered in assessing whether a product is defective:

the utility of the product involved;
the nature of the risk of injury that the product presents;
the necessity for the product;
the population exposed to the product and its risk of injury;
the obviousness of such risk;
the adequacy of warnings and instructions to mitigate such risk;
the role of consumer misuse of the product and the foreseeability of such misuse;
the Commission’s own experience and expertise;
the case law in the area of products liability;
and other factors.

Companies must tread carefully. CPSC has warned companies that cherry-picking and relying “on one factor alone” cannot cancel out a company’s reporting obligation if the other factors still reasonably support a conclusion that a defect exists.

Under 16 C.F.R. § 1115.14(e), a company must report immediately — that is, within 24 hours — after obtaining information that reasonably supports a conclusion that one of the reporting triggers has been met.

A company may investigate first, but under 16 C.F.R. § 1115.14(d) that investigation “should not exceed 10 days” without a demonstration that longer is reasonable, after which the CPSC presumes the firm had all reasonably available information.

If you have already exceeded these timelines, your company’s reporting obligation still exists. No matter where you are in this process, it is best to consult with a qualified attorney who can help your company draft a report that provides the proper context and explains the reporting delay. Often, reporting delays are minor and the CPSC does not seek or impose any sanctions or penalties for late reporting.

Similar mandatory reporting obligations exist in Canada, the EU, the UK, and other jurisdictions around the globe. We are qualified to assist your company in best meeting its potential legal obligations and interests around the world.

What is a CPSC Notice of Violation?

A Notice of Violation, or NOV, is a letter the CPSC sends when it believes a product violates a federal safety rule or a reporting requirement. It identifies the alleged violation and requests corrective action. A company is usually provided five or ten days to respond to the CPSC with the information requested by the CPSC and an agreement to the requested corrective actions or an explanation about whether the product complies with the applicable regulation.

Even an initial explanation provided to the CPSC in response to an NOV that may seem harmless on its face can potentially cause trouble for your company later on. Before responding to the CPSC, we help companies carefully vet the facts and alleged compliance issues with their products and help draft accurate and helpful responses to the CPSC that best position your company for a successful outcome.

How long do I have to respond to a CPSC notice?

It depends on the type of notice, but deadlines are often short, typically carrying due dates of five or ten days. With your company’s reputation, inventory, or container at the port all at risk, the safest move is always to have a lawyer review the specific document as soon as possible to help craft the best possible response in your situation. Do not assume that you have time or that you can answer their questions later.

Especially in the case of shipments detained at the port, entire containers can be sent for destruction by the CPSC if a timely response is not provided. We provide quick responses to new inquiries from companies seeking help. You can “Book a Call” on Zoom or Teams directly with us using the button on the right of this page.

What is a substantial product hazard?

A substantial product hazard, or SPH, is the legal trigger behind much of the CPSC’s authority. Under 15 U.S.C. § 2064, a product presents an SPH in either of two ways: it fails to comply with an applicable safety rule, standard, or ban in a way that creates a substantial risk of injury to the public, or it contains a defect that, because of the pattern of the defect, the number of units distributed, the severity of the risk, or otherwise, creates a substantial risk of injury to the public.

The reporting standard is deliberately broader than the definition. Section 15(b) requires a report when a product has an issue, like a defect, that could create a substantial product hazard, not only when it does. It is frequently difficult to make this determination, especially before a complete investigation is conducted. For that reason, the CPSC advises companies “When in doubt, report.” Many companies routinely report product issues to the CPSC under Section 15(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act. While some of those reports result in voluntary recalls, many Section 15(b) reports also do not lead to a recall because, after the case is analyzed and the facts are better understood, the issue is ultimately determined not to present a substantial product hazard.

What is a substantial risk of injury? The CPSC uses many factors in its analysis, weighing the nature and severity of the potential injury, the likelihood it occurs, the number of products in consumers’ hands, the pattern of reported incidents, and the population exposed, among other things. This is a difficult analysis with many gray areas and having an inside understanding of where CPSC staff tend to draw those lines is important.

How much can the CPSC fine my company?

The CPSC can seek civil penalties for violations of the Consumer Product Safety Act, most often for failing to report a substantial product hazard under Section 15(b) on time. Penalties, as adjusted for inflation on January 1, 2022 are currently $120,000 per violation and up to $17,150,000 for a series of related violations. (86 Fed. Reg. 68095). Criminal exposure can also result in up to five years’ imprisonment for a knowing and willful violation, personal liability for any director, officer, or agent who authorizes or orders the conduct, and asset forfeiture. (15 U.S.C. § 2070) Criminal cases, while rare, do occur and have resulted in prison for some corporate executives.

In determining whether and how to investigate companies, the agency weighs factors such as the nature of the violation, whether the company knew or should have known, the severity of the risk, whether the company has had violations previously, and the size of the business.

Can my communications with a CPSC lawyer be protected by attorney-client privilege?

Yes. In many situations, communications seeking legal advice from a lawyer are protected by attorney-client privilege, which can matter a great deal during product safety investigations, incident reviews, and decisions about whether a report is required. A privileged internal investigation, set up under a lawyer’s direction from the start, lets you understand your exposure before deciding how to engage with the agency. Whether privilege applies depends on the facts and on how the investigation and communications are structured, which is why reaching out to an attorney as soon as possible is typically your best option.

Issues around product safety, recalls, and the CPSC are difficult and the potential penalties are steep, which is why having a privileged attorney-client relationship allows you to receive frank and honest advice, without having to be concerned that those discussions could later become discoverable and somehow used against you.

What is SaferProducts.gov?

SaferProducts.gov is the CPSC’s public-facing website where consumers can search a public database of “reports of harm” that other consumers have submitted regarding their safety concerns about products in the market. This database informs other consumers, the business, and the CPSC itself, which may then open an investigation into a product based on a consumer report.

If a consumer submits a report of harm about your product, the CPSC transmits it to you and then generally publishes it no later than the tenth business day after transmission. For this reason, companies should be preregistered on the website in order to receive the notice electronically and have the maximum window of time to review and respond to the complaint.

Within that period, your company can do three things: (i) Ask the CPSC to remove, redact, or correct information in the consumer’s report that your company believes is materially inaccurate. (ii) Submit its own public comment for publication alongside the report; and/or (iii) Request that confidential or trade secret information be redacted.

The CPSC requires that a company’s request to remove, redact, or correct materially inaccurate comments be as specific and detailed as possible, in addition to providing supporting evidence. A company should also carefully consider not only the information it chooses to include in any public-facing comment but also the tone of the response. The consumer who filed the report will receive a copy of the company’s response.

Amazon Sellers, Marketplaces & Imported Products

My Amazon ASIN or Marketplace listing was removed. Can I get it back?

When the CPSC contacts Amazon or another marketplace about a product, the platform typically immediately delists the ASIN, oftentimes before the seller has even heard anything directly from the CPSC itself. Getting a listing live again requires identifying the underlying compliance issue, assembling supporting documentation, addressing the underlying safety or compliance concern, and communicating clearly with both the marketplace and the agency. We help companies restore listings related to product safety and compliance issues in order to minimize lost revenue.

Does the CPSC regulate products that are sold only online or only on Amazon?

Yes. The CPSC’s authority is based on the product, not the sales channel. Whether your company sells in brick-and-mortar stores or online, the safety and compliance obligations are the same.

The CPSC sued Amazon in 2021 and its 2024 decision found Amazon to be a “distributor” of Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) products under federal law. Since the Amazon lawsuit, most online marketplaces have taken an increasingly active compliance role on product safety for goods sold on their platforms. Online marketplaces often require companies to submit product safety documentation, like GCCs or CPCs along with test reports, directly to them before the listing can be made live.

Oftentimes, the first clue that the CPSC is investigating a product is a listing takedown on an online marketplace or an ASIN suspension on Amazon.

My competitor is selling non-compliant, unsafe, or defective products. What should I do?

We believe that companies that play by the rules should not be put in a position to lose sales and market share to companies that are skirting the rules. A level playing field benefits all reputable companies. One bad actor can bring undue attention and cause trouble for an entire product category.

We help companies file reports of non-compliance or a safety issue with a dangerous competitor product to the CPSC and to online marketplaces.

CPSC, Amazon, and online marketplaces receive substantial amounts of information from companies seeking a competitive advantage or attempting to remove a competitor’s product. We help you frame the issue and craft a trade complaint report that is accurate, persuasive, and more likely to be acted upon.

What should I do if my product receives an online review mentioning an injury, death, or another potential safety issue?

We recommend that you reach out to the individual who posted the review, if you have access to their contact information, and seek to learn more. As product safety professionals, we think that having as much information as possible as soon as possible can help a company address any potential issue quickly, potentially reducing the number of incidents, injuries, and lawsuits. The customer review may be raising a serious concern and may trigger the need to investigate further. In some cases, the review may eventually result in the need to report the product to the CPSC.

In other cases, the review may be false or malicious, planted by a competitor or a disgruntled consumer. Even so, we recommend that a company act cautiously.

We do not recommend attacking the reviewer or their credibility or removing the review, as that may create other potential legal concerns.

Product Recalls & Corrective Action Plans

How does a CPSC product recall work?

Most CPSC recalls are voluntary and run through a corrective action plan negotiated with the agency, which sets out the remedy, whether repair, replacement, or refund, and how the recall is announced to consumers. The process usually starts when a company reports a potential hazard or the agency opens its own investigation. The process includes a review of the facts, including a hazard analysis, negotiation of the corrective action plan, and publication of a recall notice. Because the terms carry real financial and operational consequences, how the recall is negotiated often matters more than the fact of the recall itself.

Does every product safety issue require a recall?

No. Not every defect or complaint leads to a recall. The CPSC weighs factors such as the nature of the defect, how likely an injury is, how severe the potential harm could be, and what corrective measures are available, and in some cases added warnings, a labeling or design change, or another fix can resolve the concern without a formal recall. Having an experience legal partner can help your company best frame and present an issue to the CPSC, potentially helping change the outcome of a Section 15(b) report or a CPSC investigation.

What is the difference between a voluntary and a mandatory recall?

A voluntary recall is one in which a company conducts a recall publicly in cooperation with the CPSC, usually through a negotiated corrective action plan. Nearly all recalls with the CPSC are voluntary, although some are negotiated under the threat of legal action. A mandatory recall is ordered by the Commission through a formal administrative process and is very rare.

Most recalls are resolved through negotiation, which is where having a lawyer who understands how the agency evaluates a corrective action plan makes a real difference.

What is a CPSC corrective action plan?

A corrective action plan, often known as a CAP, is the formal written agreement between a company and the CPSC that defines how a product safety issue will be remedied, whether through repair, replacement, refund, or another remedy, along with how any recall is communicated to consumers. The CAP is a heavily negotiated document between a company and CPSC staff’s lawyers and compliance officers. The final terms of a CPSC CAP will directly impact a company’s operations and finances associated with a recall. Carefully negotiating the corrective action plan is critical.

Who pays for a product recall?

In almost all cases, the company that made, imported, or sold the product bears the cost of the recall. Those costs can include notifying the public, processing repairs, replacements, or refunds, handling and destroying returned products, and the internal time to manage it all.

Where a defect originated with a supplier or component maker, you may be able to recover some of those costs through contracts or indemnification, depending on how your purchase agreement or master supply agreement was negotiated.

However, to have the best chance of recovery, you should consult with a lawyer while drafting your purchase or master sales agreement before a recall. This is one reason it helps to have a lawyer involved in structuring the recall and related claims. You may also have insurance coverage for some of your recall costs.

What about product recall insurance?

Product recall insurance is a specialty product that is increasingly affordable and widely available. You may need to ask your retail insurance broker to consult with their specialty brokers to get access to product recall insurance. Many retailer insurance brokers are not familiar with the product. You can also ask your broker about the potential of adding on a product withdrawal endorsement to your commercial general liability (CGL) insurance.

Like all insurance, recall insurance will only cover a potential recall event if you have purchased the insurance before the event. It will also carry a deductible, called a self-insured retention (SIR), so that you will always carry some of the risk.

Do not confuse recall insurance with your CGL insurance. CGL insurance covers individual claims that someone suffered harm as a result of your product. All companies must carry CGL insurance. However, the majority of companies do not tend to find out about recall insurance until it is too late.

Is there a legal benefit to conducting a recall in cooperation with the CPSC instead of conducting the recall on our own?

Yes. If a company conducts a voluntary recall in cooperation with the CPSC, there are other substantial benefits for the company that go beyond protecting its customers and its brand.

For example, in the event of a lawsuit related to an injury, an incident (like a fire), or a death, the record of having voluntarily reported the issue to the government and followed all of the agency’s guidance can help minimize the potential liability and damages in any judgment.

By contrast, a failure to report, late reporting to the CPSC, concealing an issue or failing to act on accumulating incident data can help to provide a plaintiff with a basis to demand costly punitive damages. These issues can also lead to a CPSC late-reporting investigation, multi-million dollar civil penalty, or, in rare cases, a criminal conviction.

Is the CPSC easy to work with?

It depends. Most matters are handled informally rather than through litigation, and CPSC staff generally prefer a cooperative resolution to an adversarial one. Compared with many federal agencies, the process is less formal and there is more room to have a back-and-forth dialogue about the facts.

Nevertheless, the CPSC is a federal agency with political leadership and a large bureaucracy. In some cases, what may “make sense” to you (and the general public) as a reasonable resolution may not meet the agency’s policy goals at a certain time. Because the agency is led by a political appointee, politics can (and often does) play a role in the outcome of recall negotiations.

CPSC can also use its tremendous power to strong-arm companies into taking actions that they may not need to take or to agree to use language describing a recall that is not fully accurate.

Much of how a CPSC matter is negotiated involves unwritten practices rather than published rules. This is where we come in as product safety professionals and former insiders at the CPSC. We know how the CPSC decisions get made internally, which is often the difference between a matter that resolves quietly and one that escalates.

What happens if we don't cooperate with the CPSC?

The CPSC is a powerful agency with an array of legal enforcement options, including the ability to sue and bring an administrative lawsuit against a company to force a mandatory recall.

When a company does not cooperate, the CPSC may issue a unilateral safety warning advising the public to stop using the product and dispose of it. In 2026, a CPSC Commissioner told Congress that the average number of monthly unilateral warnings increased by 159%. Because CPSC has a powerful communications apparatus and is recognized by Google as a reputable government agency, its warnings are picked up widely via search engines and often are the first results consumers will see.

Finally, many retailers concerned about their own potential liability will treat a Unilateral Safety Warning as a recall, proactively returning inventory to the company and seeking reimbursement for all of the costs of actions that the retailer undertakes in response to the CPSC’s unilateral warning.

What is a Unilateral Safety Warning?

A unilateral safety warning is a public announcement the CPSC issues about a product without the company’s agreement — typically when the agency believes a recall is warranted and the company does not or is unable to conduct the recall. It names the product and usually the company, describes the hazard, and tells consumers to stop using the product. Practically, it produces most of the consequences of a recall while the company controls none of the message.

Before the agency can issue a unilateral safety warning, it must follow Section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act, which generally requires the CPSC to give a manufacturer at least 15 days’ notice before any public announcement about a company. This gives the company the opportunity to request that the CPSC take reasonable steps to ensure the information is accurate and that disclosure is fair and reasonably related to the agency’s mission. The company can also issue its own public comment.

Retailers and marketplaces closely monitor CPSC announcements and take down listings quickly. Plaintiffs’ attorneys also closely review the unilateral safety warnings to see if they have a basis to potentially bring a class action lawsuit.

Resolving a Port Detention

What is CPSC eFiling?

CPSC eFiling requires importers to electronically submit certificate data to the CPSC at the time an entry is filed for an imported product that is subject to a CPSC rule, ban, standard, or regulation that requires certification. CPSC’s stated goal is to increase the compliance and safety of regulated products by using real-time, automated risk assessments to better focus its enforcement and inspection resources on suspicious or high-risk shipments. CPSC claims that this also will help importers with excellent compliance histories to limit the frequency that their products are selected for inspection, facilitating a faster import process for those companies that have their compliance documents in order.

All children’s products are subject to CPSC eFiling as are certain general-use products.

This means that when a customs broker files the legal “entry” documents to have imported goods accepted into the United States by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), all of the relevant certificate data must already be complete and ready for submission. Your Customs Broker files this information through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).

Your Customs Broker can enter the full certificate information into ACE for each shipment into ACE, referred to as a Full PGA Message Set. Alternatively, the CPSC has created a Product Registry for the eFiling process. Importers have the option to enter all of the required product safety certificate data into the CPSC’s Product Registry. The Product Registry then provides three reference IDs that your customs broker can enter into ACE via a Reference PGA Message Set when filing the entry documentation for your shipment. The reference IDs from the Product Registry consist of a Product ID (a unique identifier for the item such as a GTIN, UPC, SKU, model, or serial number), a Certifier ID (identifies the certifying party), and the Version ID (the specific version of the stored certificate). The idea behind the CPSC’s Product Registry is that it allows importers to “pre-load” their compliance details into the Product Registry and avoid retyping the required details for each shipment of a regulated finished product.

My product is detained at port. What happens next?

When the CPSC or Customs identifies a shipment for potential examination, it can detain a shipment at port. Your shipment can then be held and can potentially result in the complete seizure of the entire container of goods if the issue is not addressed and resolved quickly.

An examination is usually triggered by a suspected regulatory violation or missing compliance documentation. Once flagged for examination, your shipment is transferred to a Centralized Examination Station, which is a private (and expensive) bonded warehouse, then offloaded for examination and sampling. Because the shipment accrues storage costs every day that it sits in this bonded warehouse, you need to move quickly to address the alleged concern. If the CPSC believes the shipment may be violative, it can be detained for 60 days or more which can lead to storage costs accruing to be greater than the value of the goods.

In addition, if a violation is found, this will increase the likelihood that future shipments will also be examined, creating further costs and shipping delays. Even if a violation is not found and the goods are released by CPSC and U.S. Customs, your company is still responsible for paying the storage fees that have accrued in the bonded warehouse during this period.

How do I get a detained shipment released?

Releasing a detained shipment usually means giving the CPSC or Customs the documentation they are looking for, such as the applicable certificate of compliance, test reports, and product details, and resolving whatever safety or paperwork concern triggered the hold. Responding quickly and completely matters, because shipments sit accruing costs and an unresolved detention can escalate to refusal of admission or seizure. A lawyer who works directly with CPSC and Customs personnel can often move this faster than back-and-forth from the importer alone.

Can the CPSC or Customs seize or destroy detained products?

Yes. If a detained product is found to violate a federal safety rule and the issue is not resolved, the government can refuse admission, seize it, or in some cases order it destroyed, and the importer generally bears the cost. The outcome depends heavily on how the detention is handled and whether the right documentation and arguments are presented early. With the permission of the CPSC, shipments can sometimes be conditionally released and reconditioned to avoid a complete loss.

How can I prevent my products from being examined or detained at port?

The most reliable way to avoid an examination or detention at a port is to have the correct certificate of compliance and supporting test records in place before the shipment leaves its port of origin, as missing or inadequate documentation is one of the most common reasons goods are targeted for examination.

CPSC eFiling, which became effective in July 2026, now requires that certificate data for imported product be electronically filed at the time the entry is filed; simply including a scanned version of the certificate with the entry or only providing the certificate upon request will not satisfy the eFiling requirement. A failure to properly eFile will result in a heightened risk of examination and detention and is now a violation of federal law.

Companies with a prior detention or a known compliance issue tend to draw added scrutiny, so fixing the root cause of any prior regulatory issue helps to reduce the likelihood of future examinations.

An upfront investment in your company’s compliance program and documentation is critical to help reduce the likelihood of your incoming shipments being flagged for examination.

Why are my shipments repeatedly flagged for CPSC examination?

The CPSC has a complex risk assessment methodology that targets shipments for CPSC examination based upon a number of proprietary factors. Some of the most common reasons that your shipments may appear to be repeatedly flagged include:

Prior regulatory violation by your company
Prior regulatory violation by one of your suppliers
Limited positive history of compliance shipments by importer
High risk category (e.g. toys) as determined by HTS codes
New U.S. Customs importer number

We can help by providing your company with actionable strategies and approaches for reducing the number of times your shipments are flagged for intensive examination by the CPSC.

Testing and Certification

How do I know what products need testing and certification?

Testing and certification requirements depend on whether the product is subject to a CPSC-enforced rule, ban, regulation, or mandatory standard. Children’s products generally require third-party testing by a CPSC-accepted laboratory. General-use products can be tested by any entity able to conduct the testing or certified for compliance via a reasonable testing program.

What are Certificates of Compliance?

Section 14 of the CPSA, codified at 16 CFR part 1110, requires domestic manufacturers, importers, or private labelers of consumer products subject to a certain rule, similar ban, standard, or regulation enforced by CPSC to issue a Certificate of Compliance. For children’s products, these certificates are commonly called a Children’s Product Certificate (CPC). For all other products (aka general-use products), these certificates are commonly called a General Certificate of Conformity (GCC). CPCs must usually be based on testing performed by a CPSC-accepted laboratory, whereas GCCs may be based on testing by non-CPSC-accepted laboratories or a reasonable testing program. Certificates must accompany the product or shipment, be furnished to distributors and retailers, and be made immediately available to the CPSC and Customs on request.

Certificates must contain seven elements:

Identification of the covered product along with a unique identifier (such as GTIN or SKU)
List of citations for each consumer product safety rule the product is certified to, including citations for any testing exemptions
Identification of the finished product certifier (domestic manufacturer, importer, private labeler), including the party’s name, full mailing address, email, and phone number
Identification of the individual maintaining test records, including the individual’s name, full mailing address, email, and phone number
Date of manufacture (month and year) and identification of the manufacturer, including the manufacturer’s name, full mailing address, email, and phone number
Most recent date of testing and identification of the testing facility, including the testing facility’s name, full mailing address, email, and phone number
Attestation paragraph

For children’s products in continuous manufacture, periodic testing must be conducted at a minimum of every 1 to 3 years depending on the testing and production controls implemented by the firm. For any products in continuous manufacture, retesting must be conducted if there has been a change to the product, its raw components, or the manufacturing process.

It is important to understand that a test report is NOT a certificate. Certificates are a document created by the domestic manufacturer which “collects” all of the compliance and testing information into one place and where the responsible firm officially “certifies” to the U.S. government that the product being manufactured or imported was actually tested and meets the applicable requirements and that the information cited in the certificate are true and correct. In addition, certificates provided by a foreign supplier or manufacturer do not satisfy an importer’s obligation to generate a certificate, although importers may be able to rely on this document to issue their own certificate provided conditions are met.

What is the difference between a Children's Product Certificate (CPC) and General Certificate of Conformity (GCC)?

These are cosmetic differences in names for the formal term “Certificate of Compliance” as used at 16 CFR part 1110. “Children’s Product Certificate” or CPC is commonly used for certificates for children’s products, whereas “General Certificate of Conformity” or GCC” is commonly used for certificates for general-use products.

What is eFiling?

As of July 8, 2026, certificate data required under 16 CFR part 1110 for imported products must now be transmitted (electronically filed, aka eFiled) at the time of entry rather than provided via a PDF or similar document. Importers will need to work with Customs House Brokers to ensure that the certificate data is submitted when the entry is filed. It is important to understand that eFiling can apply to informal shipments and international mail.

The eFiling requirement does not apply to products that are domestically manufactured.

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