16 CFR 0.11 - Office of the General Counsel.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC, Commission, or we) is issuing a final rule establishing requirements pertaining to the third party conformity assessment bodies (laboratories) whose accreditations are accepted to test children's products in support of the certification required by the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), as amended by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The final rule establishes the general requirements concerning third party conformity assessment bodies, such as the requirements and procedures for CPSC acceptance of the accreditation of a third party conformity assessment body, and it addresses adverse actions that may be imposed against CPSC-accepted third party conformity assessment bodies. The final rule also amends the audit requirements for third party conformity assessment bodies and amends the Commission's regulation on inspections.

The Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act, Section 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), requires the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) to promulgate consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products. These standards are to be “substantially the same as” applicable voluntary standards or more stringent than the voluntary standard if the Commission concludes that more stringent requirements would further reduce the risk of injury associated with the product. The Commission is proposing a safety standard for soft infant and toddler carriers in response to the direction under Section 104(b) of the CPSIA. 1 1 The Commission voted 2-1 to approve publication of this proposed rule. Chairman Inez M. Tenenbaum and Commissioner Robert S. Adler voted to approve publication, and Commissioner Nancy A. Nord voted against publication. Commissioner's statements concerning this or any other Commission action may be viewed by clicking on a specific Commissioner's name and selecting “Statements” on the Commission's Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/en/About-CPSC/Commissioners/, or obtained from the Commission's Office of the Secretary.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC, Commission, or we) is issuing a final rule establishing requirements pertaining to the third party conformity assessment bodies (laboratories) whose accreditations are accepted to test children's products in support of the certification required by the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), as amended by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The final rule establishes the general requirements concerning third party conformity assessment bodies, such as the requirements and procedures for CPSC acceptance of the accreditation of a third party conformity assessment body, and it addresses adverse actions that may be imposed against CPSC-accepted third party conformity assessment bodies. The final rule also amends the audit requirements for third party conformity assessment bodies and amends the Commission's regulation on inspections.

The Federal Trade Commission proposes to amend its Rules of Practice to update its fee schedule for provision of services in disseminating information and records to the public to reflect changes in the types of services that are provided, changes in the costs of providing services, and to add other fees for new services.

The Commission is proposing amendments to the premerger notification rules (“the Rules”) to provide a framework for the withdrawal of a premerger notification filing under the Hart Scott Rodino Act (“the Act” or “HSR”). The Act and Rules require the parties to certain mergers and acquisitions to file reports with the Federal Trade Commission (“the Commission”) and the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“the Assistant Attorney General”) (collectively, “the Agencies”) and to wait a specified period of time before consummating such transactions. The reporting and waiting period requirements are intended to enable these enforcement agencies to determine whether a proposed merger or acquisition may violate the antitrust laws if consummated and, when appropriate, to seek a preliminary injunction in federal court to prevent consummation. This proposed rulemaking sets forth the procedure for voluntarily withdrawing an HSR filing, establishes when an HSR filing will be automatically withdrawn after an electronically submitted filing publicly announcing the termination of a transaction is made with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and rules promulgated under that act, and sets forth the procedure for resubmitting a filing after a withdrawal with no additional filing fee.

The Commission amends the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA Rule” or “Rule”), consistent with the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, to clarify the scope of the Rule and strengthen its protections for children's personal information, in light of changes in online technology since the Rule went into effect in April 2000. The final amended Rule includes modifications to the definitions of operator, personal information, and Web site or online service directed to children. The amended Rule also updates the requirements set forth in the notice, parental consent, confidentiality and security, and safe harbor provisions, and adds a new provision addressing data retention and deletion.