[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR1118.2]

[Page 184-186]
 
                     TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
 
             CHAPTER II--CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
 
PART 1118_INVESTIGATIONS, INSPECTIONS AND INQUIRIES UNDER THE CONSUMER 
PRODUCT SAFETY ACT--Table of Contents
 
   Subpart A_Procedures for Investigations, Inspections, and Inquiries
 
Sec.  1118.2  Conduct and scope of inspections.

    (a) After an inspection is initiated as set forth in Sec.  1118.1, 
an officer or employee duly designated by the Commission shall issue the 
notice of inspection (hereinafter: notice). Upon presenting the notice, 
along with appropriate credentials, to the person or agent in charge of 
the firm to be inspected, the Commission officer or employee is 
authorized for the purposes set forth in Sec.  1118.1(a):
    (1) To enter, at reasonable times, any factory, warehouse, or 
establishment

[[Page 185]]

in which consumer products are manufactured or held, in connection with 
distribution in commerce, or any conveyance being used to transport 
consumer products in connection with distribution in commerce; and
    (2) To inspect, at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner, any 
conveyance or those areas of the factory, warehouse, or establishment 
where consumer products are manufactured, held, or transported and which 
may relate to the safety of those products; and
    (3) To have access to and to copy all relevant records, books, 
documents, papers, packaging or labeling which:
    (i) Are required by the Commission to be established, made or 
maintained, or
    (ii) Show or relate to the production, inventory, testing, 
distribution, sale, transportation, importation, or receipt of any 
consumer product, or that are otherwise relevant to determining whether 
any person or firm has acted or is acting in compliance with the Act and 
regulations, rules and orders promulgated under the Act, and
    (4) To obtain:
    (i) Information, both oral and written, concerning the production, 
inventory, testing, distribution, sale, transportation, importation, or 
receipt of any consumer product, and the organization, business, 
conduct, practices, and management of any person or firm being inspected 
and its relation to any other person or firm;
    (ii) Samples of items, materials, substances, products, containers, 
packages and packaging, and labels and labeling, or any component at 
manufacturer's, distributor's or retailer's cost unless voluntarily 
provided; and
    (iii) Information, both oral and written, concerning any matter 
referred to in the Act and these rules.
    (b) A separate notice shall be given for each inspection, but a 
notice is not required for each entry made during the course of the same 
inspection. Each inspection shall be commenced at and completed within a 
reasonable period of time.
    (c) The notice of inspection shall include the name and address of 
the person or firm being inspected; the name and title of the Commission 
officer or employee; the date and time of the anticipated entry; 
pertinent extracts from the statutory provisions upon which the right to 
access is based; pertinent extracts from Sec.  1118.2 of these rules 
setting forth the authority of Commission officers or employees and the 
types of information and items they are authorized to obtain; a 
statement that the inspection will be conducted and the information will 
be provided with the cooperation of the person or firm being inspected; 
a statement which sets forth the purposes of the inspection and the 
nature of the information and items to be obtained and/or copied; and a 
statement that those from whom information is requested should state in 
writing whether any of the information submitted is believed to contain 
or relate to a trade secret or other matter which should be considered 
by the Commission to be confidential in accordance with section 6(a)(2) 
of the Act (15 U.S.C. 2055(a)(2)) and whether any of the information is 
believed to be entitled to exemption from disclosure by the Commission 
under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) 
and the Commission's regulations under that Act, 16 CFR part 1015 (42 FR 
10496, February 22, 1977) or as amended. Any statement asserting this 
claim of confidentiality must be in writing, and any request for 
exemption of the information from disclosure must be made in accordance 
with the Commission's Freedom of Information Act regulations, 16 CFR 
part 1015 (42 FR 10490, February 22, 1977) or as amended.
    (d) If upon being presented with a notice by an officer or employee 
duly designated by the Commission, the person or agent-in-charge of the 
firm being inspected refuses to allow entry or inspection, the 
Commission may then seek a search warrant or take other appropriate 
legal action. If the person refuses to provide information, to allow 
access to or the copying of records, or to supply samples as provided in 
these rules, the officer or employee of the Commission shall complete 
the investigation to the extent that voluntary cooperation is provided. 
The Commission may take such additional action, including but not 
limited to seeking an ex parte search warrant, employing the

[[Page 186]]

compulsory process provided for in these rules, and/or taking other 
suitable legal action. If the person or agent in charge refuses to 
accept the notice upon its presentation, the officer or employee may 
affix the notice to a public entrance way on the premises and this shall 
constitute presentation of the notice.