Is Your Business Prepared for CPSC eFiling?

The July 8, 2026, effective date for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC or Commission) electronic filing (eFiling) requirements is fast approaching. As we previously discussed, last December, CPSC approved a Final Rule to implement mandatory eFiling of certificates of compliance (CoC) for imported consumer products that are subject to a CPSC rule, ban, standard, or regulation (Final Rule). Given the Final Rule’s broad applicability, and its lack of a de minimis exemption, importers of covered goods should ensure that they are ready to comply. While most covered imports must comply by July 8, 2026, CPSC-regulated products imported through a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) are given additional time and have an effective date of January 8, 2027.

Required Elements for CoCs

To review, the Final Rule requires importers (or their brokers) to eFile certain data elements at the time of filing an entry, including:

• identification of the finished product (certificates for each product are required);
• party certifying compliance;
• each consumer product safety rule to which the finished product has been certified; 
• date and place the finished product was manufactured;
• date and place the finished product was most recently tested for compliance; and
• contact information for the person maintaining test records.

Certificates must still include citations for testing exemptions or exclusions. CPSC explained in the preamble to the Final Rule that “some rules contain testing exceptions for certain products or product characteristics, and no testing is required. Thus, for completeness and to avoid unnecessary investigations of shipments that are in fact compliant due to an exemption or exclusion, the certificate should either provide the name of the testing laboratory that conducted testing, or state why the product was not tested.”

FTZ Guidance

Earlier this year, the CPSC released a brief guidance document for importers using FTZs. Given recent uncertainties with tariff rates, importers are increasingly using FTZs. As we noted above, such importers need not comply with the Final Rule until January 8, 2027, for products imported through FTZs. However, by that date, importers must submit certificate data upon filing entry into the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) for all CPSC-regulated merchandise withdrawn from an FTZ for “consumption, warehousing, or distribution in U.S. commerce.”

Ahead of the January 2027 compliance date, CPSC’s guidance advises that FTZ operators may wish to consider the following options:

• “Developing the technical requirements necessary to continue using the First-In, First-Out (FIFO) inventory method to comply with the eFiling requirement.
• If the FIFO inventory accounting method is not suitable for providing the requisite data for CPSC’s eFiling requirement, FTZ users may need to adopt an alternative inventory accounting method.
• Utilizing a bonded warehouse to enter merchandise via a type 21 entry.”
   

Remaining Challenges for Importers

While CPSC clarified some issues and concerns that were raised during the rulemaking process, certain challenges for companies remain:

• There is no Section 321 (de minimis) shipment exemption for eFiling, so even low-value shipments are subject to the new requirements. 
• Compliance will likely be especially challenging for companies shipping multiple SKUs, so those companies might wish to consider joining the CPSC’s eFiling Beta program to familiarize themselves with the system.
• Some businesses have expressed concerns over whether the eFiling system can handle the amount of data submitted once the requirements are effective. Indeed, CPSC is already advising that large files may require multiple submissions due to file size limitations.
• When the rule becomes effective, importers must provide detailed information, including the identity and contact information of manufacturers, which has long been treated as confidential business information. Companies who were victims of CPSC’s past issues with data breaches remain concerned about whether this sensitive commercial information will be maintained as confidential. 
   

Compliance Dates Seem Unlikely to Change

Despite the remaining challenges identified above, there is no indication from CPSC that the mandatory compliance dates will be delayed or that CPSC will issue an enforcement discretion statement. Companies that import CPSC-regulated products should use the next few months to ensure that they are ready to meet the eFiling requirements.