The International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO) held its 2025 International Symposium on 14 and 15 October 2025, in cooperation with the UK Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). The theme for this year’s international symposium was “Adapting to Change: Exploring the Future of Product Safety”.
This year’s international symposium was held in London with a record attendance of nearly 370 delegates from more than 30 countries – including representatives of regulators, manufacturers, retailers, online marketplaces, testing laboratories, consumer organisations, law firms, standards organisations and academia. Cooley’s Rod Freeman, vice president of ICPHSO, served as the planning chair for the program, working alongside the planning committee of volunteer ICPHSO members.
Sarah Smith, deputy chief executive at the OPSS, opened the conference, providing a snapshot of product safety opportunities, as well as the challenges OPSS is seeing. We heard about the recently passed Product Regulation and Metrology Act (PRAM Act), a framework piece of legislation that gives the UK government powers to reform UK product safety laws via secondary legislation and represents one of the biggest product safety legislative reforms in the UK in the last 40 years. A consultation on using these new powers is expected before the end of the year. We also heard about OPSS’s continued focus on online marketplaces, new technologies (in consumer products, those used for compliance, e.g. by online marketplaces, and how the civil service can use artificial intelligence), and the broader priority of the UK government to simplify and reduce administrative burdens for businesses.
The first keynote was a fireside chat with former US Attorney General Eric Holder. This discussion offered insights into how companies can strengthen trust and resilience while navigating fast-evolving global product safety and compliance obligations. Key takeaways included the importance of a truly effective compliance program, being aware of legal requirements and building relationships with regulators in other jurisdictions, and the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Arnau Izaguerri Vila, legal officer at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), also delivered a keynote focusing on UNCTAD’s work, including the recently adopted UN Principles for Consumer Product Safety that will now go before the UN General Assembly in December 2025. This is the first globally agreed framework for product safety and an important step to improve product safety for consumers worldwide.
The “Global Regulator Update” featured speakers from the European Commission, OPSS, Health Canada and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), who spoke about their priorities, what has been keeping them busy and what gives them hope for the future. Some common themes emerged, including a continued focus on online marketplaces, lithium-ion batteries (particularly for e-bikes), and button and coin cell batteries, as well as priorities to promote competitiveness and growth within their respective economies. We also heard that the guidance on the European Union General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) has been translated and may be published in the next month.
The first plenary, “AI-Improving Compliance from Differing Lenses”, featured perspectives from academia, testing and a regulator. We heard about the possibilities of using AI to assess potential product safety issues, and how the European Commission is using AI both to search on a greater scale than ever for the online sale of products already covered by safety alerts and to proactively identify new safety trends and issues at an early stage before they escalate.
“Product Safety in Latin America: Regional Challenges, a Call for Focused Attention, and the Urgency of Harmonizing Regulation and Market Surveillance” explored the product safety landscape in Latin America. Despite market challenges, including fragmented regulations, limited enforcement and the widespread presence of informal markets, the panel explored encouraging signs of progress. Regional cooperation is gaining momentum, aiming to raise safety standards while easing compliance for businesses. The panel highlighted that these efforts are increasingly international, with Latin American regulators drawing on product safety data from other jurisdictions and the EU’s harmonised approach noted as a potential model for future regional alignment in Latin America.
“Regulation Hokey Cokey!”, moderated by Cooley’s Claire Temple, explored the rapid pace of change in the product regulatory landscape, including new regulation, deregulation and simplification. The session noted how it is more challenging for companies than ever before to stay on top of developments. Steps that can be taken include horizon-spotting, educating internal stakeholders and creating contingency plans in anticipation of change.
In “Market-Driving Sustainability: Ensuring Product Safety in a Circular Economy”, we heard how industry continues to drive a shift to more sustainable products. However, improving sustainability without considering product safety can create risks for consumers. The panel shared how suppliers, standards bodies and testing organisations are adapting to new realities – including the rise of third-party remanufacturing and increased use of recycled materials. To manage these changes, they emphasised the importance of increased testing, closer collaboration across supply chains and product chains of custody.
“Navigating Obligations Under the New Packaging Regulation” explored new rules coming into application across the EU. We heard about the shift to a full life cycle approach, examples of steps companies can take to achieve compliance and the requirements that are most challenging for different actors.
“Disruption: Maintaining Safety and Compliance When Geopolitics Disrupt Your Supply Chains” explored how disruptions to supply chains can affect businesses and ways to maintain product safety and compliance. One key takeaway was the importance of stress-testing continuity plans.
“Collaborative Solutions for Ensuring Product Safety in Third-Party Online Marketplaces”, led by Consumer Reports, brought together representatives from Which?, Amazon and OPSS. The panel discussed ways they have engaged in collaborative dialogue to develop innovative strategies for enhancing consumer protection in the evolving digital marketplace.
“Intersection of Consumer Product Safety and Mental Health” explored the topical issue of mental health following reforms made by the EU GPSR. One takeaway was the data gap that currently exists on the prevalence of mental health harms. A representative from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) took attendees through some of the findings from a study on products that incorporate digital aspects, including mental health considerations not yet published.
The conference also featured shorter, rapid-style sessions covering risk assessments under the EU’s new GPSR, the digital safety landscape, a guide to button battery standards worldwide, data-driven sustainability and apprehending product safety in the era of the new EU Product Liability Directive. One stand-out rapid session was “The Recall Loophole: How Fraudsters Game the System – and What It Costs Us”, which explored how fraud is reshaping recall dynamics, how this affects consumers, and some of the ways to tackle this issue without putting undue burdens on honest consumers.
One important role ICPHSO plays is to train and mentor the next generation of product safety professionals. At the end of the conference, we heard from the students who took part in the International Student Mentorship Program, who shared how they found the event.
This year’s event was also held in collaboration with the UK charity Electrical Safety First (ESF). Many attendees stayed on to attend ESF’s annualElectrical Product Safety Conference 2025, which followed on 16 October at the same venue.
ICPHSO is an international, neutral forum for product safety stakeholders to learn, network and share information. It typically hosts three types of events each year – an annual symposium in the US, an annual international symposium outside the US and regional training workshops based in North America. The next ICPHSO in-person event will be the 2026 Annual Meeting and Training Symposium taking place February 23 – 26, 2026, in Orlando, Florida. Visit the ICPHSO website for more information.
