By Suzanne Kubota
Senior Internet Editor
FederalNewsRadio.com

FederalNewsRadio told you earlier this year about a pilot project between the Consumer Product Safety Commission and U.S. Customs and Border Protection aimed at improving product safety.

We asked Carol Cave, CPSC’s Director of Import Surveillance for an update.

So far, says Cave:

• 38 companies have been deemed eligible for the program,
• 16 have inquired about enrolling,
• 2 have applied, and
• 1 company has been approved.

According to crowell.com, the “application process for the first and only company approved to participate in the pilot program – JC Penney Co. – took four months to complete.”

Cave admits the 400 page application for the Importer Self-Assessment-Product Safety pilot program is just the start of an extensive process.

…If they use overseas factories, and so forth, they have to be willing to show us what their processes are over there and let us go through their factories and facilities and really scrutinize what they’re doing.

Cave tells FederalNewsRadio she sees good in the process.

I have been encouraged by the number of inquiries and believe it is higher than we originally anticipated and I think, further, that the firms that have applied – I’m really impressed by the knowledge that they have about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act requirements that were passed last August.

Cave says the first goal is for all 38 companies to comply. “I would celebrate that as a true success,” she says.

—–
On the Web:

crowell.com – Customs and CPSC Offer Benefits to Importers that Join New Import Safety Compliance Program

FederalNewsRadio – Stemming the tide

CBP – Importer Self-Assessment Consumer Product Safety Pilot

(Copyright 2009 by FederalNewsRadio.com. All Rights Reserved.)

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.