Recently, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) proposed several new sweeping regulations interpreting the product classification and testing requirements imposed by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). These constitute the most significant CPSC mandates since the enactment of this landmark legislation in 2008.

As proposed, these regulations will impose a number of new testing and certification requirements on those who make, import, and sell consumer products subject to mandatory requirements, including recertification under certain circumstances, periodic and “verification” testing, “remedial action plans” if a product sample fails a test to such standards, and extensive new record-keeping requirements.

In addition, the agency is proposing a new interpretive rule that may change which products are considered to be “children’s products.” And all of this comes at a time when the CPSC is assessing record penalties (including a record two-million-dollar penalty last month that includes provisions of CPSC oversight of the firm’s business operations), and just as Congress is beginning to consider even more changes to the CPSIA.