Reference Guide
CPSC has records on the numerous consumer products it regulates, as well as information from regulated parties, including manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of consumer products. Many records are available on CPSC's website without making a FOIA request. CPSC also maintains information that summarizes incidents and investigations of incidents and analyses of injury information. Because of CPSC's numerous types of files and records, please include in your request the following information, as appropriate:
| * Identity and address of the importer/manufacturer, private labeler, distributor or retailer of interest; |
* Type of consumer product, a brand name and a model number (which are searchable on the publicly available database at
http://www.saferproducts.gov); |
| * Kinds of records sought (Example: recall, investigation, complaint, meeting log, technical staff analysis); |
* Time period for file search (Example: January 1-31, 2010, calendar year 2013 or FY13 (October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013)
(Default = 5 calendar years plus the current year); |
| * Specific accident or hazard scenario of interest (Example: falls, fires, broken fingers or roll-overs); |
| * The extent of your willingness to pay any fees that would be incurred in the processing of your request (Default is $25.00); and |
| * The purpose of your organization's or your need for the information, if requesting a waiver of the fees. |
Helpful Hints:
* CPSC can process your FOIA request more quickly if you narrow your request to specific descriptions.
* If your request does not specify a time period for the file search, CPSC will limit the search to the most recent five (5) years
and the current year.
* Records for injury information and most other records for the periods before 1980 are no longer immediately available
through CPSC records systems and data bases. As a result, requests for records older than 1980 will take longer to retrieve
and process, which could increase the processing fees.
* Please note that the CPSC maintains a publicly available online information database at http:/www.SaferProducts.gov for
anyone to search without making a FOIA request. This database contains Reports of harm identifying consumer products and
manufacturers.