Title: Consumer Product Safety Inspection Enhancement Act
Policy area: Commerce

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.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8134 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8134

   To support the Consumer Product Safety Commission's capability to 
    protect consumers from unsafe consumer products, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 28, 2020

 Ms. Schakowsky (for herself and Mr. Duncan) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To support the Consumer Product Safety Commission's capability to 
    protect consumers from unsafe consumer products, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Consumer Product Safety Inspection 
Enhancement Act''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCED RISK ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY.

    Section 17 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2066) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(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, the Commission shall enhance targeting, 
        surveillance, and screening of consumer products entering the 
        United States at ports of entry, including ports of entry for 
        de minimis shipments, by--
                    ``(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' means 
                articles containing consumer products entering the 
                United States under the de minimis value exemption in 
                19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C);
                    ``(B) the term `express consignment carrier 
                facility' means a separate or shared specialized 
                facility approved by the port director solely for the 
                examination and release of express consignment 
                shipments;
                    ``(C) the term `ports of entry for de minimis 
                shipments' means environments where de minimis 
                shipments are processed, including express consignment 
                carrier facilities, international mail facilities, and 
                air cargo facilities;
                    ``(D) the term `violative consumer products' means 
                consumer products in violation of an applicable 
                consumer product safety rule under this Act or any 
                similar rule, regulation, standard, or ban under any 
                other Act enforced by the Commission.''.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``Commission'' means the Consumer Product 
        Safety Commission;
            (2) the term ``de minimis shipments'' means articles 
        containing consumer products entering the United States under 
        the de minimis value exemption in 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C);
            (3) the term ``ports of entry for de minimis shipments'' 
        means environments where de minimis shipments are processed, 
        including express consignment carrier facilities, international 
        mail facilities, and air cargo facilities;
            (4) the term ``violative consumer products'' means consumer 
        products in violation of an applicable consumer product safety 
        rule under the Consumer Product Safety Act or any similar rule, 
        regulation, standard, or ban under any other Act enforced by 
        the Commission;
            (5) the term ``electronic commerce platform'' or ``e-
        commerce platform'' means any electronically accessed platform 
        that includes publicly interactive features that allow for 
        arranging the sale, purchase, payment, or shipping of goods, or 
        that enables a person other than an operator of such platform 
        to sell or offer to sell physical goods to consumers located in 
        the United States; and
            (6) the term ``express consignment carrier facility'' means 
        a separate or shared specialized facility approved by the port 
        director solely for the examination and release of express 
        consignment shipments.

SEC. 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.
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