The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has launched important new features to the SaferProducts.gov Business Portal that make it easier and more efficient for businesses to work with CPSC. These changes are a key part of the agency’s overall information technology modernization effort.
A new, comprehensive online form allows manufacturers, private labelers and importers to quickly submit required reports of potentially hazardous or defective products to CPSC. The online form makes it easier for businesses to report product hazards and to communicate information on consumer product safety issues with CPSC.
Another improvement expands CPSC’s ability to correspond with all of the businesses registered on SaferProducts.gov using the Business Portal, instead of postal mail. All registered manufacturers, importers and private labelers identified in incident reports will now receive notices electronically, regardless of whether the report is eligible to be published on SaferProducts.gov. Previously, businesses could only receive SaferProducts-eligible reports electronically. This new feature is an example of efficiencies and cost savings being achieved through our information technology overhaul.
With this release, the structure has been put in place to eventually allow businesses registered in the Business Portal to add brand names for products they sell or have sold. Along with brand names, the time periods during which the company sold each brand also can be identified. This information will help CPSC more easily contact the appropriate business when a report about a product is submitted to SaferProducts.gov.
These enhancements to the SaferProducts.gov Business Portal are largely a response to requests and feedback CPSC received from businesses and trade associations.
SaferProducts.gov was launched on March 11, 2011, allowing consumers to report and search for reports of harm or risks of harm. As of the October 31, the site contains more than 4,100 consumer product-related reports.