January 2025

Working together with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission approved a Final Rule in December 2024 to revise the agency's regulation for Certificates of Compliance. The Final Rule was issued on 8 January 2025 and aligns the current certificates rule with other rules on testing and certification, and implements, for importation of products and substances regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, electronic filing of certificates (eFiling) with CBP. (Federal Register: Certificates of Compliance).

On 8 January 2025, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in consultation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), issued a final rule to revise the agency's regulation for Certificates of Compliance. This aligns the CPSC's certificates rule with other CPSC rules on testing and certification, and implements, for importation of products and substances regulated by CPSC, electronic filing of certificates (eFiling) with CBP. In July 2024, the CPSC released an eFiling Quick Start Guide to assist with this new process.

16 CFR Part 1110 for Certificates of Compliance (per scope), specifies the entities that must issue certificates for finished products in accordance with section 14(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), as amended, 15 U.S.C. 2063(a); specifies certificate content, form, and availability requirements that must be met to satisfy the requirements of section 14 of the CPSA; requires importers to file certificates electronically (eFile) with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for imported finished products that are required to be certified; and clarifies which provisions of this part apply to component part certificates. This part does not address the type or frequency of testing necessary to support a certificate.

Finished products subject to a consumer product safety rule under the CPSA, or similar rule, ban, standard, or regulation under any other law enforced by the Commission, which are imported for consumption or warehousing, or are distributed in commerce, must be accompanied by a finished product certificate.

For all CPSC regulated consumer products and substances subject to the Final Rule and required to be certified, except for products and substances imported into a foreign trade zone (FTZ) and subsequently entered for consumption or warehousing, the Final Rule becomes effective on 8 July 2026. For CPSC regulated products and substances entered from an FTZ for consumption or warehousing, the Final Rule becomes effective on 8 January 2027.

In the US, when hazards are identified in consumer products, they will be recalled and published in the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Recent Recalls on the CPSC website, which is updated daily. The US recalls from 01 December 2024 to 31 December 2024 are summarized below:

*Other Hazards include Crushing Hazard, Ingestion Hazard, Laceration Hazard, Tip-Over Hazard, Impact Hazard, Poisoning Hazard, Swallowing Risk, Choking Hazard, Entrapment Hazard and Fall Hazard with a frequency of less than 2.

For a complete list click here

In Canada, when hazards are identified in consumer products, they will be recalled and published in the Recalls and Safety Alerts Database on the Health Canada website, which is updated daily. The Canada recalls from 01 December 2024 to 31 December 2024 are summarized below:

For a complete list click here

ECHA announced that on 21 January 2025, five hazardous chemicals were included as members of the SVHC Candidate List and an update to one entry was made.

On 30 August 2024, the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) launched a 45-days public consultation on several chemicals, as potential Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC).

After further discussion within ECHA’s Member State Committee, five substances were concluded to be members of the SVHC Candidate List (Candidate List). In addition, the entry for “tris(4-nonylphenyl, branched and linear) phosphite” was updated to reflect that it is an endocrine disrupter to the environment.

Based on the above conclusion in ECHA’s Member State Committee, ECHA added the five substances to the Candidate List on 21 January 2025, officially.

The number of SVHCs on the Candidate List is now updated to 247 entries.

Details of the new SVHC chemicals added to the Candidate List [and the update for the entry of “tris(4-nonylphenyl, branched and linear) phosphite”] are summarized in the below tables.

Five New SVHCs:

Updated Entry:

Manufacturers and importers should take note of these SVHCs and potential and current use in their processes or products to plan accordingly.

In Europe, when hazards are identified in non-food consumer products, the products will be recalled and published in the Safety Gate system, which is updated weekly. The European recalls from 01 December 2024 to 31 December 2024 are summarized below:

*Other Hazards include Drowning Hazard, Strangulation Hazard, Entrapment Hazard, Fire Hazard, Cut Hazard and Microbiological Hazard with a frequency of less than 9.

*Other Categories include Home Electrical Appliances, Tools and Hardware, Outdoor Living Items, Jewelry, Computer / Audio / Video / Other Electronics & Accessories, Protective Equipment, Household Items and Food Contact Material with a frequency of less than 7.

*Other Countries include Austria, Poland, Latvia, Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Finland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Malta and Iceland with a frequency of less than 9.

For a complete list click here

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry proposed amendments to the 2013 Ordinance on Technical Requirements for Electrical Appliances and Materials, addressing updates to technical standards for various electrical products.

On 6 December 2024, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) proposed amendments to Notification No. 3 of 2013, which interprets the Ordinance on Technical Requirements for Electrical Appliances and Materials. The aim is to align the technical requirements for household appliances, welding equipment, transformers, reactors, power supplies, and industrial lithium secondary batteries with the latest international technology trends.

1. Changes to Standards:

• 22 existing Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) will be updated to new versions, and business operations must follow these new versions. JIS standards are national standards that define the quality, types, and performance of products, services, and data in Japan.

• 1 new JIS standard will be introduced, requiring familiarity and understanding ahead of time.

• 23 outdated standards will be deleted and should no longer be referenced or used.

2. Effective Date and Transitional Period:

• If the amendments are approved, they will take effect in February 2025. Most changes will come with a 3-year transition period to gradually replace the current JIS standards in use. However, the standard J61558-1 (2019) for "Safety of transformers, reactors, power supplies and combinations - Part 1: General and tests" will take immediate effect without any transitional period.

3. Voluntary Nature of Technical Provisions:

• The technical provisions in this interpretative document are voluntary. If the prescribed methods are not convenient, alternative compliant approaches may be adopted. Interested parties are invited to submit their comments online by 7 January 2025.

Reference Link (Japanese version only)：

https://public-comment.e-gov.go.jp/pcm/download?seqNo=0000283390

In China, when hazards are identified in consumer products, they will be recalled and published in the SAMR Defective Product Administrative Centre, which is updated daily. The China recalls from 01 December 2024 to 31 December 2024are summarized below:

*Other Hazards include Crash Hazard, Chemical Hazard, Puncture Hazard, Burn Hazard, Damage to Skin, Skin Irritation Risk, Impact Hazard, Poisoning Hazard, Microbiological Hazard, Risk of Death and Explosion Hazard with a frequency of less than 5.

*Other Categories include Household Items, Footwear, Jewelry, Computer / Audio / Video / Other Electronics & Accessories and Tools and Hardware with a frequency of less than 4.

*Other Provinces include Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Guizhou, Chongqing, Shanghai and Fujian with a frequency of less than 3.

For a complete list click here

In Australia, when hazards are identified in consumer products, they will be recalled and published in the Recalls and Safety Alerts Database on the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission website, which is updated daily. The Australia recalls from 01 December 2024 ­to 31 December 2024are summarized below:

For a complete list click here