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SaferProducts.gov is the Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database (Database) website of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The CPSC is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction.
The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from all unsafe consumer products, including those that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard
or can injure children. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products'such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals'contributed
significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
Through SaferProducts.gov, consumers, child service providers, health care professionals, government officials, and public safety entities will be able to submit reports
of harm (Reports) involving consumer products. Manufacturers (including importers) and private labelers identified in Reports will receive a copy of the Report, and will
have the opportunity to comment on them. When the Database is fully operational in March 2011, completed Reports and manufacturer comments will be published online at
www.SaferProducts.gov for anyone to search.
About the Soft Launch
Reports and manufacturer comments collected during Soft Launch will not be made available for search and review in the Database, even after the official launch.
The CPSC is testing application and internal operating procedures during Soft Launch. While information on reports of harm and manufacturer comments will be collected and
processed internally using new procedures developed for the Database, our ordinary disclosure procedures for the dissemination of information will continue to apply to the
public disclosure of all information received by the CPSC until the official launch date of the Database on SaferProducts.gov in March, 2011.
The CPSC is implementing a new Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database (Database) on SaferProducts.gov, pursuant to section 6A of the Consumer
Product Safety Act (CPSA), as amended by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The Database will allow consumers and other Database users to submit
reports of harm (Reports) describing a harm or risk of harm related to the use of a consumer product for search and review by other users. Manufacturers (including importers)
and private labelers will have an opportunity to comment on Reports that identify them, and may choose to have their comment appear in the Database along with the Report.
The Database will also include information on product recalls. The CPSC is on schedule to officially launch the Database to the public on March 11, 2011.
To meet the March deadline, the CPSC is testing and finalizing its application and internal operating procedures in early 2011. During this prelaunch period, on January
24, 2011, we will begin a "soft launch" (Soft Launch) of the Database.
Consumers/Report Submitters: During Soft Launch, those wishing to submit a Report describing a harm or risk of harm related to the use of a consumer product
will use the new reporting form developed for the Database. Reports submitted during Soft Launch will be processed internally by the CPSC under the requirements of
section 6A of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA)
and our new regulation at 16 CFR 1102 (effective January 10, 2011), available at
75 FR 76832 (Dec. 9, 2010).
This means that Reports that meet the minimum requirements for publication will be transmitted to the manufacturer or private labeler identified in the Report for comment
within five business days. The manufacturer or private labeler will be given the opportunity to comment on the Report. However, during Soft Launch neither the Report
nor the manufacturer comment, if any, will ever be posted in the Database.
Submitters that register with the CPSC or that provide their email address will receive system-generated notifications regarding their Report, as if the Database
were fully operational. However, such notices will also explain that the notification is a "test" of the new Database, and that the CPSC will never make Reports
received during Soft Launch available for search and review in the Database. Information submitted to the CPSC during Soft Launch will only be released to the public
under the procedures for information disclosure described in section 6(b) of the CPSA
and our regulations at 16 C.F.R. 1101.
Just because Reports received during Soft Launch will not appear in the new Database does not mean that they are of no value to the CPSC. Collection and review
of all Reports is important to the CPSC's mission to protect the public from unsafe consumer products. Agency staff examines every Report that is submitted. Where
appropriate, we may undertake additional product investigations. Due to the large volume of Reports that are received by the CPSC each year, agency staff cannot
respond to every Report on an individual basis. However, as a data-driven agency your Report is extremely important to the CPSC's analysis of consumer products.
Businesses: We encourage manufacturers (including importers) and private labelers to register an account on the new Business Portal so that they may
take advantage of the ability to receive electronic notice of Reports and the online commenting feature. The Business Portal also allows for online submission of
a claim that a Report contains materially inaccurate and/or confidential information. During Soft Launch, however, such submissions will not have any bearing on
what appears in the Database, because no information collected during Soft Launch will ever appear in the Database.
Using the Business Portal during Soft Launch may allow manufacturers and private labelers to test their own internal procedures in anticipation of the official
launch of the Database in March. The CPSC will process all comments and claims from manufacturers submitted during Soft Launch under the requirements of
section 6A of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA)
and our new regulation at 16 CFR 1102 (effective January 10, 2011), available at 75 FR 76832 (Dec. 9, 2010).
. This
means that Reports that meet the minimum requirements for publication will be sent the manufacturer or private labeler identified in the Report for comment within
five business days of submission. The manufacturer or private labeler will be given the opportunity to comment on the Report, and may also submit claims of
confidential and materially inaccurate information. The CPSC will make a determination on any claims of confidential or materially inaccurate information submitted
during Soft Launch, as if the system were fully operational. All notices sent during Soft Launch that are generated by the Database will explain that the notification
is a "test" of the new Database, and that the CPSC will never make Reports or comments received from manufacturers during Soft Launch available for search and review
in the Database.
During Soft Launch, companies will continue to receive all appropriate notifications under section 6(c) of the CPSA, which requires the CPSC to communicate to
manufacturers, insofar as may be practicable, information as to any significant risk of injury associated with a product.
As is the current practice, Reports and manufacturer comments received during Soft Launch will only be released to the public under the procedures for information
disclosure described in section 6(b) of the CPSA
and our regulations at 16 C.F.R. 1101.
This means that a manufacturer or private labeler will still be given the
opportunity to review and comment on information from which the manufacturer's or private labeler's identity may be readily ascertained before public disclosure.
The CPSC will continue to take reasonable steps to assure accuracy, and that the disclosure of the information is fair in the circumstances and reasonably related to
effectuating the purposes of the Act.
Beginning on the official launch date of the Database, all Reports and manufacturer comments submitted to the CPSC that meet the minimum requirements for
publication in the Database will be disclosed in the Database, as set forth in section 6A of the CPSA
and our regulation at 16 CFR 1102.
Soft Launch should provide an opportunity for the CPSC and our stakeholders to implement and test the technical and operational processes that they will use
in anticipation of the March 11, 2011, Database launch date. The information presented on SaferProducts.gov during Soft Launch, including the Database and the
Business Portal, has been prepared by CPSC staff for general informational purposes. These materials do not, and are not intended to constitute legal advice
and have not been reviewed or approved by the Commission, and do not necessarily represent their views.
Further questions regarding the CPSC's Soft Launch of the Database may be directed to Ming Zhu, Office of Information & Technology Services, Consumer
Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814; mzhu@cpsc.gov; telephone (301) 504-7517.
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