On March 14, 2025, Amazon filed suit against the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, challenging CPSC’s July 29, 2024, and January 16, 2025, orders determining...more
With 2025 underway, the AFS Consumer Products team highlights some of the most pressing legal issues facing the consumer products industry this year....more
This second installment of our series highlights the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) presence and guidance at this year’s ICPHSO annual symposium. CPSC had a notably smaller presence this year. Agency...more
Every year at the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO)’s annual symposium in Orlando, stakeholders, regulators, and other industry members gather to discuss emerging trends and issues around...more
The Trump administration has taken two actions that will dramatically increase White House control over federal commissions, boards, and officials that were previously considered independent. These actions are likely to...more
President Trump’s February 18th Executive Order entitled, “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” represents a sweeping effort to consolidate federal executive branch lawmaking power with the President. The Order’s...more
While independent regulatory agencies, like the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or the Commission), have typically considered themselves exempt from executive orders, recent events indicate the CPSC is likely not...more
On December 19, 2024, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) unilaterally issued a warning to consumers to stop using Sport Nets 4’ x 8’ portable soccer goals. According to CPSC, an exposed metal tip at the top of the...more
Continuing the Zen Magnets saga, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) faces a challenge to a rule banning products containing small, high-powered, separable magnets. CPSC has asserted that these kinds of small,...more
In recent years, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has increased pressure on consumer product companies through various enforcement mechanisms. The increase in the frequency and amount of civil penalties sought by...more
At the end of last year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) approved an Operating Plan for Fiscal Year 2025, which includes CPSC’s strategic priorities and resource allocations for the coming year. Stated...more
Commissioner Peter A. Feldman has been named Acting Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, effective January 22, 2025. Mr. Feldman is not a new face to the agency as he has held various positions within the...more
Fitbit will pay a civil penalty of $12.25 million after it “knowingly failed to immediately report” a defect in its Ionic smartwatches that caused dozens of people to sustain burn injuries, the Consumer Product Safety...more
Major new changes to the California Proposition 65 warning requirements went into effect on New Year’s Day. After multiple attempts, California’s Office of Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) adopted long-awaited changes to the...more
Leachco, a small family-owned business in Oklahoma that manufactures and sells infant lounging products, recently won a rarely litigated issue against CPSC. In July 2024, an administrative law judge (ALJ) denied relief sought...more
Dangerous products are far more common than they should be. Despite manufacturers’ and retailers’ obligations to avoid putting dangerous products on the market, numerous people suffer serious and fatal injuries caused by...more
On October 21, 2024, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the structure of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). As we explained in a previous blog post, under CPSC’s current structure, the president of...more
On September 18, 2024, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) unanimously approved a new mandatory standard for nursing pillows designed to address risks presented by suffocation, entrapment, and fall hazards...more
In an open letter published on September 3, 2024, Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Commissioners Peter Feldman and Douglas Dziak called for an investigation into foreign-owned e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu to...more
If the first two waves of PFAS litigation focused on impacts to natural resources—namely groundwater—and personal injury claims alleging exposure to PFAS, the third wave of PFAS litigation has certainly arrived. Originally...more
Edward D. Krenik, senior principal in Bracewell’s Policy Resolution Group, and Dylan Pasiuk, a PRG principal, discuss what may happen in the consumer product safety world under the new Trump administration....more
Following a hotly contested election, Donald Trump is once again the president-elect and will return to the White House on January 20, 2025. He will do so with a dominant electoral college win, potentially a win of the...more
The Consumer Product Safety Commission launched its eFiling Beta Pilot a little over a year ago. Non-pilot participants were invited to participate in voluntary eFiling last summer, and the CPSC extended this stage to October...more
Cosmetics, including skin moisturizers, makeup, nail polish, shampoos, hair color, and deodorants, are predominantly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For those in the cosmetics industry, the Consumer...more
During September 2024’s “Baby Safety Month,” the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published its annual report detailing injuries and deaths associated with nursery products among children under the age of five. CPSC...more