Importers warned of increased penalties by CPSC
Importers, manufacturers, and others are being warned that failures to timely report product defects may be met with higher civil penalties and other enforcement measures.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced July 7 that a U.S. company has agreed to settle charges that it failed to immediately report that one of its products contained a defect or created an unreasonable risk of serious injury. The company allegedly had information about this problem for years before reporting to the CPSC and initiating a recall. The company’s predecessor was fined $500,000 in 2008 for similar violations.
As part of the settlement the company will pay a $7.5 million civil penalty; maintain a compliance program to ensure that it complies with the Consumer Product Safety Act; maintain internal controls designed to ensure timely, complete, and accurate reporting to the CPSC; and file annual reports regarding its compliance program and system of internal controls for three years.
However, CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric said companies should be on notice that the Commission “will be even more aggressive in the future,” including by pursuing “significant civil and potentially criminal penalties.” Importers, manufacturers, retailers, and others in the consumer product industry have an obligation to immediately report potential defects, he said, and the CPSC “will not hesitate to use all of the tools at our disposal to hold firms responsible who choose to put anything other than safety first when selling consumer products.” For further info, please go to
Supply chain disruptions to continue for the foreseeable future
Every indicator we see, almost every article we read leads us to doubt there will be any significant change in the current unpredictable transportation modes in the foreseeable future, probably 4-6 months, maybe longer. Demand remains high and space in all modes of transportation remains tight in spite of the recent decline in rates. One of the driving factors is that many transportation workers have left the industry for better paying and less stressful jobs in other industries. We encourage you to continue to book shipments as early as possible and allow for excessive transit times.