Avoid Getting Stuck at the Border with Violative Imports – The Importance of Pre-Importation Planning

I’ve mentioned before that US Customs enforces other agency’s mandates with respect to goods entering the country. Ensuring you’re compliant with the rules and regulations applicable to your import is critical in order to avoid hold ups at the border and delays in delivering goods to your customers.

This past week I revisited the issue of advising clients on how to meet some of the Consumer Safety Product Commission’s (CPSC) product safety measures that must be complied with following the enactment of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). Looking at a production of children’s apparel, we were analyzing the best way to meet the recently implemented “tracking label” requirement, which is detailed in Section 103 of CPSIA.

This rule mandates for children’s products manufactured on or after August 14, 2009 that the tracking label provide “to the extent practicable,” permanent marks that will enable the ultimate purchaser to ascertain the manufacturer or private labeler, the location and date of production of the product and cohort information.

The intention of the Tracking Label Rule is to create the ability to trace back to the production run of an article in the event of a product recall. Given the level of guidance offered by the CPSC however, which has been minimal at best, we found ourselves contemplating the effectiveness of methods for meeting the mandate.

Should the article be stamped with permanent ink?

Sew a permanent label with all of the relevant information on it?

Attach an informative adhesive label? What about with super glue?

The answer to this last idea is NO by the way, as it is not considered permanent. Hang tags are not permitted either.

One of the challenges in choosing a viable method is that the label must remain on the article throughout the “useful life” of the product, which can go up to an indefinite number of years as any reseller of children’s products will tell you.

A children's product is defined as a "consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger." -- Section 235(a) CPSIA

The main challenge however, is simply that CPSC has not provided enough guidance to the importing community about how to comply with its new rule, despite its Statement of Policy regarding tracking labels.

What if the article is really small? How do you permanently mark say, an infant’s shoe, with all of the requisite information?

Any thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

Have questions about how to comply with CPSC’s new requirements? You’re not alone. Feel free to email me with your comments or questions at clark.deanna@gmail.com