Risks of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Database

On May 24, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to effectuate the establishment of a statutorily mandated, publicly available, searchable online database containing consumer product safety information. The database is required by Section 212 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which created a new §6A of the Consumer Product Safety Act entitled "Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database."

The proposed rule would establish requirements pertaining to the information to be included in the database and also would establish provisions regarding submitting reports of harm; providing notice of reports of harm to manufacturers; publishing reports of harm and manufacturer comments in the database; and dealing with confidential and materially inaccurate information.

The database, which can be accessed already at SaferProducts.gov, is potentially a worthwhile tool, providing both consumers and manufacturers with information that might be valuable. But it also portends significant product liability concerns for companies, including for those that are falsely accused.