Consumer Product Safety Inspection Enhancement Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8134) to support the Consumer Product Safety Commission's capability to protect consumers from unsafe consumer products, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 8134
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--
``(A) 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
``(B) 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 Consumer Product Safety Inspection Enhancement 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 subsection--
``(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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Mr. PALLONE. 8134.
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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 8134, the Consumer Product Safety Inspection Enhancement Act, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, this bipartisan legislation was introduced by Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee chair Jan Schakowsky and Representative Jeff Duncan and advanced out of the Committee on Energy and Commerce on September 9 by a voice vote.
This important legislation will empower the Consumer Product Safety Commission with the data it needs to protect Americans from the flood of unsafe products entering our Nation from overseas, especially e- commerce shipments entering under the de minimis value exemption. It will also help ensure the Commission has adequate staffing to support these efforts.
Madam Speaker, e-commerce spending has risen steeply during the COVID-19 pandemic as Americans turn to online shopping to safely get needed goods or to find scarce supplies. Even before the pandemic, however, the CPSC was projecting that the number of e-commerce shipments to the United States would soon reach 60 million per year and represent well over 50 percent of the total volume of imports under the agency's jurisdiction.
Despite the rapid growth in e-commerce, these shipments entering the U.S. from overseas continue to face little scrutiny at our ports and often contain fake or dangerous products.
Currently, CPSC inspectors are present at only 6 percent of U.S. ports and concentrated only at seaports that receive large, high-value shipping containers. The agency virtually has no presence at the kinds of ports where millions of e-commerce shipments enter the United States, such as express courier facilities, international mail facilities, and airports.
We need CPSC inspectors stationed in all these types of places to prevent unsafe products from entering the U.S. and harming Americans. CPSC will also need more data and more advanced IT infrastructure in order to properly assess risk and target potentially unsafe e-commerce shipments.
Madam Speaker, H.R. 8134 addresses all these issues. It expands CPSC's presence at ports, to include the type of ports where e-commerce shipments enter. It also empowers the CPSC to collect the data it needs to identify and block e-commerce shipments that disregard our consumer product safety laws and standards.
This bill would protect American consumers from unsafe consumer products, at the same time an expanded and enhanced import surveillance program will also protect manufacturers and retailers from having to carry out costly recalls.
Madam Speaker, I, again, commend Chairwoman Schakowsky and Representative Duncan for introducing this bill. I also thank Ranking Member Walden and subcommittee Ranking Member Rodgers for working with us to move this bill through the Committee on Energy and Commerce on a bipartisan basis.
Madam Speaker, I call on my colleagues to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky), the subcommittee chairwoman.
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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I would ask my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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