Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : EIC 111/2/21

16 October 2008

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 515/2008

US : General Conformity Certification Requirements

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently posted on its website a brief summary of Section 102 of the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). Among other things, it outlines the requirements of general conformity certification.

DETAILS

2. Section 102(a)(1) of the CPSIA on General Conformity Certification amends Section 14(a)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) to require, except for children's product which would be subject to third party testing requirement and the schedule for implementation of third party testing, every manufacturer of a product which is subject to a consumer product safety rule under the CPSA or similar rule, ban, standard, or regulation under any other Act enforced by the CPSC and which is imported for consumption or warehousing or distributed in commerce (and the private labeller of such product if such product bears a private label) shall issue a certificate which (a) shall certify, based on a test of each product or upon a reasonable testing programme, that such product complies with all rules, bans, standards, or regulations applicable to the product under the CPSA or any other Act enforced by the CPSC; and (b) shall specify each such rule, ban, standard, or regulation applicable to the product.
    
3. In addition, Section 102(b) of the CPSIA amends Section 14 of the CPSA to add a Section 14(g)(3) that requires that every certificate "shall accompany the applicable product or shipment of products covered by the same certificate and a copy of the certificate shall be furnished to each distributor or retailer of the product." Full text of Section 102 of the CPSIA is available at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpsia.pdf and Section 14 of the CPSA is available at http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/cpsa.pdf. The statutes enforced by the CPSC are available at http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/acts.html.
    
4. According to the brief summary, the new general conformity certification requirement will go into effect on 12 November 2008. The required general conformity certificates must be in English and also may be in another language. They must include information on the identity of the manufacturer or private labeller of the product, the testing laboratory, and the date and place of manufacturing and testing the product. Products without the required certificate cannot be imported or distributed in commerce in the US. The certificate must accompany the product or product shipment and must be available to CPSC and the US Customs and Border Protection upon request. Failure to furnish the certificate or furnishing a false certificate can subject the manufacturer or private labeller to civil and criminal penalties. The brief summary is available at the website of CPSC at http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/102brief.html. 
    
5. The CPSC staff is now inviting comments on Section 102 of the CPSIA, regarding the requirements for certificates for general conformity testing and third party testing. In particular, the staff is requesting comments on the use of electronic certificates as well as the issue of multiple certifications for the same product. Interested parties may refer to the attached Annex (pdf format) or the website of CPSC at http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/102rfc.pdf for details and submit comments to CPSC by 29 October 2008.
    
6. Traders are strongly advised to seek clarifications with their importers in the US in order to comply with the necessary requirements. Traders can also submit questions to CPSC direct for their advice via the CPSC's web-based form available on its website at http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx.

ENQUIRIES

7. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 2398 5682.

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Bonny CHAO)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry