CPSC launches mandatory eFiling program for imported consumer products
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has implemented its long-awaited electronic filing (eFiling) program, requiring importers of regulated consumer products to electronically submit Certificates of Compliance before products enter U.S. commerce.
The new requirement is designed to help the agency identify high-risk imported products more efficiently while reducing unnecessary inspections and delays for compliant importers. By receiving compliance certificate data before shipments enter the country, CPSC says it can better target unsafe products while streamlining the import process for companies that meet federal safety requirements.
The program also strengthens coordination between CPSC and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, allowing the agencies to better identify and intercept potentially unsafe products at U.S. ports of entry.
“America faces an unprecedented surge in imported consumer products entering through increasingly complex global supply chains, including millions of direct-to-consumer shipments that often bypass traditional retail distribution,” said CPSC Acting Chairman Peter A. Feldman in a statement. “eFiling brings CPSC’s import surveillance and targeting capabilities into the 21st century, enabling the agency to identify and interdict high-risk shipments earlier, keeping unsafe foreign-made products out of American homes, and leveling the playing field for American manufacturers and importers that follow the rules.”
Feldman emphasized that the program does not create new compliance requirements for domestic manufacturers.
“eFiling does not apply to domestic manufacturers, including small businesses manufacturing in the United States,” he said. “It creates no new testing, certification, or compliance obligations. Importers are already required by law to create and maintain this information. eFiling simply modernizes how the data is transmitted to CPSC.”
The eFiling program has been more than a decade in development, with industry alpha and beta pilot programs conducted between 2016 and 2024 before a voluntary implementation period that allowed importers to test their systems ahead of the mandatory rollout.
For powersports manufacturers and importers bringing motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs, e-bikes, scooters, youth vehicles, helmets, accessories and other regulated consumer products into the United States, the new system represents a significant change in how compliance documentation is submitted at the border. While it does not add new testing or certification requirements, importers will now need to ensure the required compliance certificate data is transmitted electronically as part of the import process.
CPSC noted that requirements for consumer products imported into Foreign Trade Zones and later entered for consumption or warehousing will become effective Jan. 8, 2027.
