ALEXANDRIA, Va. — With the deadline for the certification requirements of last year’s Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) set to go into effect early next year, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores is holding a series of online educational forums to help suppliers and retailers prepare for the new regulations.

Signed into law in August 2008, CPSIA requires manufacturers of many of the products sold in drug stores to make conformance certificates available to retailers and distributors starting in February.

The law also provides enforcement authority to state attorneys general and currently affects all products in commerce that are regulated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. For drug stores, the affected products include such items as pain relievers, batteries, cosmetics, toys and a host of over-the-counter medications.

To help educate retailers and manufacturers about the new requirement and the Certificate Exchange Network that NACDS is developing with technology supplier RollStream Inc., the association is hosting a series of educational webinars this month and in December.

The first two of the one-hour online sessions were held on October 28 and November 4 and attracted a total of 70 people, NACDS says.

The same information is being offered during each webinar, with two more sessions slated for November 11 and 18. The dates for the December webinars have not yet been set.

Observers say CPSIA is the most comprehensive overhaul of consumer product safety laws since the Consumer Product Safety Commission was created in 1972.