Business Leaders And North American Officials To Discuss Product Safety Issues At CPSC Summit

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is hosting the inaugural North America Consumer Product Safety Summit on September 26-27. Held at the CPSC’s headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, the event will bring together business leaders from Canada, Mexico and the United States to discuss product safety issues and cooperation among the three countries.

Anne Lardner-Stone, PPAI’s director of public affairs, and other industry representatives will be attending the summit. They will be there to represent the perspectives of promotional products businesses and gather information relevant to the industry.

The summit’s agenda gives product safety experts and leaders an opportunity to share their visions and plans for product safety cooperation among the three countries. The CPSC hopes to encourage discussion on North America-wide initiatives and develop plans that represent the priorities of Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Participation by stakeholders on the issue is encouraged, with the summit’s schedule including a number of opportunities for participants to engage in question and answer sessions. Scheduled speaker presentations and panel discussions examine many of the product safety issues facing businesses throughout North America.

The summit’s first day includes keynote presentations from Inez Tenenbaum, chairwoman of the CPSC; Bernardo Altamirano Rodríguez, federal consumer attorney with Mexico’s Consumer Protection Federal Agency; and an executive from Health Canada. They’ll speak both on their country’s unique product safety concerns and where common ground can be found.

Also on the first day, panel discussions will examine what companies are doing to manage their global supply and distribution chains to protect consumers, and how international regulatory cooperation can both help consumers and respond to emerging product safety issues.

The second day of the summit begins with a keynote speech by Michael Fitzpatrick, associate administrator of the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), on the positive effects of regulatory cooperation on North America’s safety, prosperity and competitiveness. Panel discussions will look at managing consumer product safety requirements in multiple jurisdictions and private sector efforts on standards alignment.

Click here to learn more about the event and its agenda, as well as how to follow along via streaming webcast.