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Product Responsibility Summit
To Bring Industry, Regulators And
Experts Together In D.C.
Industry leaders are traveling to
Washington, D.C., this month for
the PPAI Product Responsibility
Summit, to be held September
18-20. Originally branded as
the Product Safety Summit,
the Association’s long-running
corporate responsibility and
compliance event delivers
education and resources to
address the five pillars of product
responsibility—product safety,
social compliance, environmental
sustainability, supply chain
security and product quality.
The Summit’s schedule
is designed to bring product
responsibility neophytes up
to speed on product safety
challenges and best practices
while delivering the deep
dive on compliance issues
industry experts are looking
for. Facilitated by industry
thought leaders, representatives
from product safety labs and
product certification groups,
the event’s sessions explore a
diverse, comprehensive gamut
of the latest developments in
product responsibility.
PPAI and the promotional
products industry have established
strong relationships with industry
regulators, including the
Consumer Product Responsibility
Commission (CPSC). CPSC
commissioners have been an
active presence at PPAI product
responsibility events for a number
of years, and 2016 is no exception.
Commissioners Robert Adler
and Joseph P. Mohorovic are the
luncheon speakers on September
19 and 20, respectively. Adler
and Mohorovic will deliver
their perspectives on CPSC
priorities and their impact on the
promotional products industry.
CPSC staff members past and
present are also on the Summit
agenda. John “Gib” Mullan, chief
counsel to CPSC Commissioner
Ann Marie Buerkle, will lead a
panel discussion on how voluntary
standards impact safety and
considerations when selecting
products that may not have
established voluntary standards.
Tanya Topka, Fast Track team lead
in the Defects Investigation division
of the CPSC’s Office of Compliance
and Field Operations, is joining
SnugZ USA’s Richard Massey in
a breakout session on what to do
when a field investigator shows up.
Carol Cave, current deputy director
of the CPSC’s Office of Compliance
and Field Operations, is holding an
interactive simulation of a national
product safety recall with summit
attendees, giving them an up-
close look at crisis management
from regulatory, legal and public
perception perspectives. She will
be joined in the panel discussion
by Cheryl Falvey, co-chair of
Crowell & Moring’s Advertising
& Product Risk Management
Group and member of the firm’s
management board, and former
general counsel of CPSC. Product
safety attorney Neal Cohen, who
previously served as the small
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