Checked against sources: 22 September 2026
CPSC eFiling is the electronic filing of certificate of compliance data with U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the time of entry. It became mandatory on 8 July 2026 for imported consumer products that must be certified with a Children's Product Certificate (CPC) or a General Certificate of Conformity (GCC). It creates no new testing or certification obligation: importers have had to certify these products since 2008. It changes when and how CPSC receives the data: with every entry, instead of on request. Sources (4)Federal Register: CertificatFederal Register: Certificates of Compliance, 90 FR 1800 (8 Jan 2025)CPSCCPSC: Update on Certificates of Compliance and eFilingCPSC news release 26-604CPSC news release 26-604 (8 Jul 2026)CPSCCPSC: eFiling FAQ
What changed, and what did not
Before 8 July 2026, an importer had to hold a certificate and produce it when CPSC or CBP asked. The final rule published on 8 January 2025 (90 FR 1800) revised 16 CFR part 1110 so that the certificate's data is transmitted into CBP's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) when the entry is filed.
CPSC's acting chairman put the scope plainly on the day it took effect: eFiling "creates no new testing, certification, or compliance obligations. Importers are already required by law to create and maintain this information. eFiling simply modernizes how the data is transmitted to CPSC."
| Unchanged since 2008 | New from 8 July 2026 |
|---|---|
| Which products need a CPC or GCC | Certificate data is filed in ACE at entry |
| Third-party testing by a CPSC-accepted lab for children's products | Certificates must also list any testing exclusions relied on |
| The importer certifies imported finished products | CPSC scores each entry line's risk using the filed data |
Who must file
For eFiling, the importer is the party eligible to make entry for the goods under CBP rules: an owner, purchaser, consignee or authorised customs broker. The duty applies whenever the imported finished product requires a certificate. A customs broker usually transmits the data, but the importer remains responsible for it.
Sales between consumers through an online marketplace count as commercial and are covered. A gift sent from one consumer abroad to another in the US, of goods the sender already held, is not. Resold and overstock goods are covered.
The two ways to file
| Route | What the broker sends in ACE | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Full PGA Message Set | All seven certificate data elements: Product ID, citation codes, manufacture date, manufacture place, product test date, testing laboratory and point of contact | Few products, or products not imported repeatedly |
| Reference PGA Message Set | Three certificate identifiers (Certifier ID, Product ID, Version ID) pointing to a certificate the importer stored in CPSC's Product Registry | Repeat imports of the same products |
The Product Registry is free and separate from ACE: it does not talk to ACE, so the importer passes the three identifiers to the broker. See how the Product Registry works.
The dates
- 8 July 2026: mandatory for regulated imports in general.
- 22 October 2026: mandatory for international mail shipments, which must now file CBP Entry Type 13. See the mail guide.
- 8 January 2027: goods entered from a Foreign Trade Zone for consumption or warehousing.
Every date, with its source, is in the deadlines dataset.
What happens if the data is missing
ACE does not reject an entry for missing CPSC data. CPSC can still reject the CPSC data, raise the entry's risk score, and seek seizure of non-compliant goods. The detail is in what happens if eFiling data is missing.
How many importers this touches
CPSC's own estimate in the final rule: 246,438 small importers affected, and 57.5 million filings a year across all message types. Those are CPSC's pre-rule estimates, not counts; the full table is in the eFiling market size dataset.
Sources
Primary sources first; provider pages only for their own prices.
- Federal Register: Certificates of Compliance, 90 FR 1800 (8 Jan 2025) — read 2026-09-22
- CPSC: Update on Certificates of Compliance and eFiling — read 2026-09-22
- CPSC news release 26-604 (8 Jul 2026) — read 2026-09-22
- CPSC: eFiling FAQ — read 2026-09-22
- CPSC: eFiling Quick Start Guide V1.1 (PDF) — read 2026-09-22
- CBP CSMS #69382435 (29 Jul 2026) — read 2026-09-22
- CPSC bulletin: eFiling guidance for mail shipments (1 Sep 2026) — read 2026-09-22
- CPSC: eFiling Guidance for Foreign Trade Zones (PDF) — read 2026-09-22
Founder of ComplyGoods. Publishes open data on product-compliance regimes (also eprfrancerep.com and eprgermanyrep.com). Every figure here links to the government file or provider page it was read from.
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