CPSC Needs to Budget for Development of Trusted Trader Program, Says Commissioner

Commissioner Joseph Mohorovic vowed to find funding for the product safety component of the Trusted Trader program, at a Dec. 3 hearing on the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s fiscal year 2015 operating plan. The current draft of the operating plan (here) allocates no money for development the program, despite the need for further incentives to remedy a lack of participation from industry, according to agency officials. The commission is scheduled to vote on whether to adopt the plan on Dec. 12.

CBP began accepting applications in June for a pilot of the Trusted Trader program (see 14061320), which would include not only the CBP Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and Importer Self-Assessment programs, but also trusted trader programs from CPSC, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. CPSC has been running a pilot since 2008 of its ISA-Product Safety program, which currently has six participants, according to Carol Cave, CPSC director-import surveillance. Although CBP has received applications for the combined Trusted Trader pilot and has started sending out to notify selected applicants (see 14101019), none of the companies applied to the product safety component of Trusted Trader, said Cave.

As a result, CPSC staff included work on the Trusted Trader program in its draft operating plan or FY 2015. The agency needs to “go out to industry” and find out what will incentivize companies to participate, said Cave. But the Trusted Trader work is the only unfunded import-related component of the draft operating plan, and will only be funded if “additional resources become available,” says the draft.

Mohorovic said the work on trusted trader is necessary to focus CPSC’s targeting efforts, and pledged to “be doing everything I can to try to find funding in this area.” Improving CPSC’s import surveillance is not just about improving targeting activities, but also decreasing the size of the “haystack” the agency has to sift through “so that our sophisticated and evolving methods for targeting could be used on a limited and smaller universe,” said the commissioner, who began his term in July. “I mention that to staff because I know how difficult it is rearranging and finding dollars,” said Mohorovic. “With my apologies, I’m going to be doing everything I can to try to find funding in this area. To the extent that I’m successful or unsuccessful, I apologize in advance for having to get the pencils out again,” he said.

RAM Expansion Waits on New Funding From Congress

Meanwhile, a major priority in CPSC’s draft FY 2015 operating plan is expansion nationwide of the Risk Assessment Methodology (RAM) targeting system for imports. But expanding the program from its current pilot phase would require Congressional appropriation of a requested $5 million beyond the agency's FY 2014 budget, as well as authorization to collect user fees on imports (see 14030519). A House appropriations bill passed in July contains neither, though an appropriations bill currently before the Senate includes both. Even if authorization passes for the user fees, which are expected to net the agency $36 million, CPSC wouldn’t be able to implement the fees until 2016 or 2017 because of required rulemaking, said Jay Hoffman, director of CPSC’s finance office. Should the user fees fail to make it into the final FY 2015 appropriations bill, Cave recommended the agency continue the RAM pilot as it currently stands because of the “effectiveness it has proven to the agency.”