CPSC eFiling is live: children's backpacks now need certificate data at the border
Since 8 July 2026, certificate data for regulated consumer products must be filed electronically with the customs entry. Children's backpacks and school supplies are on the list, and there is no de minimis exemption.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission's eFiling requirement took effect on 8 July 2026 for most imported consumer products. Certificate of Compliance data must now be transmitted electronically with the customs entry in ACE, through a broker's PGA message set or by reference to CPSC's Product Registry. Merchandise withdrawn from a Foreign Trade Zone for consumption or warehousing gets until 8 January 2027.
The parts that catch bag suppliers out
CPSC's own FAQ is blunt on two points. There is no low-value exemption: any product requiring certification must have an eFiled certificate regardless of shipment value, and the de minimis rule does not apply. And the obligation sits with the Importer of Record, even though the test data is usually generated by the factory and the lab.
Children's backpacks and school supplies appear among the product types CPSC expects to be flagged; roughly 600 HTS codes are listed for possible eFiling, and CPSC notes the list is not necessarily complete. Certified data covers seven elements: product ID, the rules certified, manufacturing date, manufacturing place, most recent test date, the testing laboratory, and a contact for the party holding the records.
What CPSC is and is not doing yet
CPSC says it does not currently intend to ask Customs to deny entry solely for missing eFiled data, and ACE will initially send warnings rather than rejections. That is not a grace period in any commercial sense: CPSC states it will keep enforcing certificate requirements, can request seizure of non-compliant goods, and will adjust an entry line's risk score based on the certificate data provided — which means compliant importers get fewer holds, and everyone else gets more.
What we do for children's lines
For any bag going into a children's programme we supply the test report and the certificate data set as standard, alongside the material and print specification, so the importer of record can file without chasing the factory. If your broker needs the manufacturing address and test date in a set format, ask us and we will hand it over as a file rather than as a photo of a document.
Sources: CPSC, eFiling FAQ (effective 8 July 2026; FTZ entries 8 January 2027; no de minimis exemption) — cpsc.gov; UPS, New CPSC eFiling Requirements (flagged product types) — ups.com.