Inadmissibility of "UNGREEN" Electronics

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a notice of proposed rulemaking yesterday that may be of interest to manufacturers (including importers) of consumer products and commercial equipment subject to DOE energy conservation standards.  The Federal Register notice proposes amendments to the CBP regulations to provide that if certain imports do not comply with applicable energy conservation or labeling standards, CBP will refuse admission when so notified by the Department of Energy (DOE) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and CBP may, upon a recommendation from DOE or FTC, conditionally release the goods so that they may be brought into compliance.

The proposed rule is available at

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-03-26/pdf/2012-7105.pdf

Although DOE consulted extensively on it, this notice is being issuedunder the authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and theDepartment of the Treasury.  Comments should be submitted to CBP asprovided in the notice.

DOE has stepped up enforcement efforts to ensure manufacturers meet the energy and water conservation standards, saving energy -and money- for American consumers and businesses.  Accordingly, DOE will be followingthis rulemaking with interest, as it furthers DOE's ongoing efforts to ensure that products entering the U.S. comply with federal conservation standards and do not compete unfairly with products manufactured in the U.S.  Under existing DOE regulations, manufacturers (including importers) and private labelers of noncompliant products are subject to civil penalties.

Email correspondence: "Announcement from the US Department of Energy Regarding Compliance and Enforcement"

Ashley Armstrong       Wed 3/28/2012 6:31 AM