On February 19, 2014, President Obama issued Executive Order 13659 (EO) to streamline the import and export process for America’s businesses and better enforce laws related to the safety and compliance of imported products.  The EO directed government agencies to create a “single window” through which all required trade data will pass.  While the CPSC as an independent agency is not bound by the EO, we are doing our part in this government-wide effort by taking steps to facilitate the electronic filing (eFiling) of targeting and enforcement data elements for imported consumer products.  Toward that end, our agency approved an agency pilot program earlier this month.  The Federal Register notice describing the pilot was published at http://1.usa.gov/1i216sr.

This eFiling pilot is an important step toward the U.S. government having more actionable information on imported goods so that CPSC staff can better focus on violative and dangerous trade and allow safe, compliant goods to move into the country more quickly.  These efforts are in conjunction with our pilot risk assessment methodology (RAM). Congress called on the Commission to develop a RAM to identify likely violative imported consumer products. In 2011, we created a small-scale pilot that has been a success. However, the RAM pilot alone does not fulfill the direction and vision of Congress and without full implementation, we will not be able to sufficiently integrate CPSC into the much larger single window with a fully functional, national-scope, risk-based, data-driven screening capability.

In crafting the eFiling pilot, the Commission considered the goal of the single window, CPSC and U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff input, and stakeholder comments to strike the right balance—of obtaining the highest priority targeting data elements, but also being responsive to the recommendations of our stakeholders.  CPSC will continue moving forward on this endeavor with the goal of even further focusing our efforts on violative products.

CPSC staff and I worked closely with a wide variety of stakeholders through multiple meetings to develop the pilot.  I thank all of the companies and associations that participated in our discussions and submitted comments, and I look forward to the trade’s continued participation.  In light of how much the trade’s input informed the pilot we approved, I trust that we will see a robust level of interest in this pilot from all sectors to work toward the best program to meet the important policy goals of the EO.

Those interested in participating in the pilot or that have questions should contact Jim Joholske, Deputy Director, Office of Import Surveillance, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 301. 504. 7527, efilingpilot@cpsc.gov.