Retail Product Safety and Compliance Leaders Meet

By [ Kathleen McGuigan , Susan Kirsch ]
03/04/2020

On February 18, a record setting 90 product safety and compliance leaders from 32 retailers met for RILA’s Consumer Products Committee (CPC) 2020 Spring Meeting held in Orlando, Florida – in conjunction with the annual International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO) Conference. The packed meeting agenda included educational presentations from industry thought leaders as well as robust peer-to-peer benchmarking discussions.

Andrew Sousa, Manager of Innovations & Strategic Partnerships and Val Liberman, Director of Product, from UL, presented on Using Innovative Technology to Enhance Customer Experience, Increase Sales & Strengthen Compliance Programs. The presentation highlighted a new innovative technology platform that utilizes machine learning and natural language processing technologies to incorporate market performance information, e.g., customer complaints, product returns, and customer reviews, into the monitoring and proactive handling of product safety and quality challenges for retailers and their suppliers.

Cheryl Falvey, Partner, Crowell & Moring, kicked off the meeting with a presentation on 2020 Consumer Products Hot Topics. Falvey shared the current federal regulatory and political landscape, including the implications of leadership changes at U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, pending and proposed consumer product legislation, as well as insights for what retailers can expect looking forward into 2020 and beyond.

Cory Anderson, Senior Manager, Government Relations & Regulatory Affairs, Retail Council of Canada (RCC) shared updates on new Canadian regulatory requirements for window coverings, fire pots, and the completion of testing and labeling requirements for a barbeque brush standard—the first ever in the world for this specific product category.

The CPC meeting wrapped up with lively rounds of retailer-led benchmarking discussions. Retailer participants shared leading practices on California regulatory compliance, IoT products, managing customer feedback and recall-related issues. Benchmarking sessions have proven to be a perennial favorite among meeting attendees and will be a mainstay agenda item at future CPC meetings.

That evening, RILA members, guests, and sponsors had an opportunity to continue to catch up with their consumer product compliance peers at a RILA CPC Dinner. RILA wishes to recognize and extend its thanks to Crowell & Moring, & UL for graciously sponsoring the CPC Spring 2020 Meeting and Dinner.

The RILA CPC Committee will next convene an in-person meeting on September 10 -11, 2020, in Washington, D.C. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details!

For more information regarding RILA’s Consumer Products Committee, contact Susan Kirsch, Director, Regulatory Affairs & Compliance at Susan.Kirsch@rila.org or Kathleen McGuigan, EVP & Deputy GC, at Kathleen.mcguigan@rila.org.