In the News

CPSC Public Meeting on Traceability Signals Potential for Global Program

Apr 2, 2009

Section 103 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) requires manufacturers of children's products (products designed or intended primarily for children 12 and under) to "place permanent, distinguishing marks on the product and its packaging, to the extent practicable," that will enable product identification, down to location and date of production, and "cohort information" (batch, run number or other identifying characteristics). This so-called "tracking label" requirement takes by statute on August 14, 2009. In preparation, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a request for comments on the implementation of the requirement and recently held a public meeting. See 74 Fed. Reg. 8781 (February 26, 2009).

On March 18, 2009, CPSC staff held a public meeting to hear a presentation on the feasibility of a system designed to offer world-wide traceability for all consumer products. Although executive level members of the staff were quick to note that the Agency had no involvement in the development of the proposed system, the Commission is interested in developing a long-term strategy to implement the CPSIA's traceability requirements in a manner that would be conducive to working within a global traceability framework.

The presentation was conducted by, and at the request of, Dr. Louis Balme, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Grenoble Institute of Technology, Grenoble, France. The subject of his presentation was a November 2008 feasibility study that analyzed the need for a global post-manufacturing traceability system.

According to the professor, the traditional notion of traceability is rooted in inventory control and product flow management (i.e., pre-manufacturing traceability). His study is premised on the theory that a post-manufacturing traceability system that includes retailers and consumers is necessary to assure traceability for (1) quality; (2) safety; (3) compliance; (4) authenticity; and (5) social/environmental data checking purposes. The study's goal is to account for traceability throughout the life span of a product.

Dr. Balme asserted that implementation of a global traceability system requires the participation of four inter-connected key players: (1) manufacturers; (2) professional users; (3) consumers; and (4) retailers. To achieve such a system, he proposed integrating existing technology, specifically radio-frequency identification ("RFID") tags for products with a medium to high-end value, and bar codes for products on the low end of the value spectrum, along with the use of the Electronic Product Code ("EPC") standardized numbering system to allow the key players to record traceability data into a central database that he proposed would be operated by an independent, third party web portal (e.g., Google),which would be closely monitored by regulatory authorities.

The referenced feasibility study is said to reflect feedback from stakeholders, in particular manufacturers and retailers, who expressed the need for maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive business information as a central issue to the viability of both a national and a global tracking system. However, for very small products or very low cost products, neither RFID nor bar codes may be feasible or cost-effective. In addition, privacy advocates have previously expressed concerns about RFID use at the consumer level because of the association with potentially sensitive personal information, a point not addressed in the presentation.

Essential to this vision for a global traceability system is strong government involvement, through financing of training and pilot projects, as well as robust regulation within a global framework. From the U.S. perspective, traceability systems must also be consistent with other existing regulatory requirements and not duplicate them or create excessive paperwork obligations.

Given the certificate of conformity obligations under Section 102 of the CPSIA, and various existing labeling requirements that apply to many types of consumer products, the Commission must consider many facets of traceability in developing rules. In particular, a key consideration will involve circumstances where it is not "practicable" to include such a label on products and/or packaging.

Comments are due on the tracking label notice by April 27, 2009.