Consumer Product Safety Inspection Enhancement Act

To support the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s capability to protect consumers from unsafe consumer products, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Consumer Product Safety Inspection Enhancement Act 2. Enhanced risk assessment methodology Section 17 of the Consumer Product Safety Act ( 15 U.S.C. 2066 (i) Enhanced risk assessment methodology (1) In general Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of the Consumer Product Safety Inspection Enhancement Act (B) working in consultation with Customs and Border Protection to— (i) access and leverage all available data, including manifest data, to enhance targeting of violative consumer products, including de minimis shipments containing violative consumer products; (ii) access and leverage intellectual property rights seizure data to target products that may have both intellectual property rights infringements and consumer product safety violations; (iii) prioritize shipments coming from the People’s Republic of China; and (iv) use the Participating Government Agencies Message Set, or any successor program, and additional consumer product specific data elements, including certificates of compliance and any other data that the Commission needs, to help risk assess and target violative consumer products; and (C) building and improving information technology systems to support electronic access to and connection with the data and targeting systems associated with express consignment carrier facilities, international mail facilities, electronic commerce platforms, and other applicable system participants. (2) Electronic filing of certificates of compliance Beginning not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Port Surveillance Modernization Act, certificates of compliance shall be filed electronically for consumer products intended for entry into the United States to enhance risk assessment and target de minimis shipments containing violative consumer products. (3) Definitions As used in this susbection— (A) the term de minimis shipments 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) (B) the term express consignment carrier facility (C) the term ports of entry for de minimis shipments (D) the term violative consumer products . 3. Additional CPSC surveillance personnel at key ports of entry for de minimis shipments The Commission shall hire, train, and assign not fewer than 16 full-time equivalent personnel during each fiscal year and to be stationed at or supporting efforts at ports of entry, including ports of entry for de minimis shipments, for the purpose of identifying, assessing, and addressing shipments of violative consumer products. Such hiring shall continue during each fiscal year until the total number of full-time equivalent personnel equals and sustains the staffing requirements identified in the report to Congress required under section 4. 4. Report to Congress (a) In general Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall transmit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, and make publicly available, a study and report assessing the risk to consumers associated with the targeting and screening of de minimis e-commerce shipments. (b) Report Requirements In the study and report, the Commission shall— (1) examine a sampling of de minimis shipments at a sufficient and representative sample of all types of ports of entry where de minimis shipments are processed, including express consignment carrier facilities, international mail facilities, and air cargo facilities to assess the extent to which such shipments include violative consumer products; (2) examine a sampling of shipments coming from the People’s Republic of China to identify trends associated with the shipment of products containing both intellectual property rights infringements and consumer product safety violations; (3) detail plans and timelines to effectively address targeting and screening of de minimis shipments to prevent the entry of violative consumer products entering into the commerce of the United States taking into consideration projected growth in e-commerce; (4) establish metrics by which to evaluate the effectiveness of the Commission efforts to reduce the number of de minimis shipments containing violative consumer products from entering into the commerce of the United States; and (5) assess projected technology and resources, including staffing requirements necessary to implement such plans. 5. Definitions In this Act— (1) the term Commission (2) the term de minimis shipments 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) (3) the term ports of entry for de minimis shipments (4) the term violative consumer products (5) the term electronic commerce platform e-commerce platform (6) the term express consignment carrier facility 6. Savings clause Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit, affect, or conflict with any other authority of the Commission or any other statutory requirements governing the Commission. September 24, 2020 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Summary: Consumer Product Safety Inspection Enhancement Act This bill modifies the screening procedures for consumer products moving through ports of entry. First, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) must consult with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to target consumer products in violation of product safety rules, including (1) shipments that are valued below the threshold for the application of duties, (2) shipments from China, and (3) products that may both violate product safety rules and infringe intellectual property rights. The CPSC also must develop information technology systems that support connections to other specified customs control systems. Further, beginning not later than two years after the date of enactment, the bill requires manufacturers to electronically file certificates of compliance with applicable product safety rules for products intended for entry into the United States. Finally, the CPSC must hire, train, and assign specified full-time personnel to support the identification and assessment of products in violation of product safety rules at ports of entry.