Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition Homepage

Who Is CERC?

The Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC) is a non-profit association of established electronic, specialty and general retailers and retail association who have combined to allow us to focus our unique market perspective on the critical policy issues facing the consumer electronic retail industry and our customers. CERC has a unique and expert perspective on consumer electronics from the retail sector’s point of view.

CERC does not run trade shows, but rather focuses its energy on helping to educate decision makers and advocate on important public policy issues being discussed and debated at all levels of government. Our goal is to instill continued consumer and market confidence through our interactions with Federal and state government agencies, the U.S. Congress, the Administration and state legislatures. CERC works closely with leading public policy leaders that share our interests to promote a pro-competitive, market-driven agenda, furthering the goals of and bringing a voice to CE retailers, general retailers who sell CE, our related trade associations, and, most of all, our customers.

From its birth in 1991 as an informal coalition through its incorporation in 2003 as a not-for-profit trade association, CERC has fought to:

Deregulate product markets, to open the way for new competitors and consumer electronics products;

Protect retail customers from unfair enactments or impositions by Federal or state government, and from discrimination by private sector service providers; and

Preserve the value and utility, after purchase, of consumer electronics retail products.

CERC has most recently focused its efforts in helping to ‘educate’ and advocate our policy positions before legislators, regulators and our customers on a wide-range of issues, including the DTV Transition, Electronics Recycling and Environment, Enhanced-911, Intellectual Property Rights and Age Verification.

Current Issues

Take me to the DTV TRANSITION Section

*** NEW UPDATED VERSION!! CERC has updated its CONSUMER GUIDE entitled: "What Consumers Need to Know About the February 17, 2009 'DTV Transition' and the NTIA 'Coupon-Eligible Converter Box' Program." This informative Q&A is meant to help retailers explain and consumers better understand and plan for the DTV Transition in February 2009 when most local over-the-air local 'analog' broadcast TV station broadcasts are shut off. New questions/answers dealing with low power TV stations and antennas have been added.

*** NEW UPDATED VERSION!!! CERC has revised its Spanish version of the CONSUMER GUIDE entitled: "Guia Para El Consumidor En Espanol."

*** The DTV Transition application period has begun! Consumers can find out more information and apply for up to two (2) coupon eligibile converter box coupons online at www.dtv2009.gov or by calling toll free: 1-888-DTV-2009 (888-388-2009).

*** NTIA has recently created a new website to help consumer electronics retailers decide whether and how to participate in the CECB Program.

*** NEW!!! Retailers registered with the CECB program may be interested in knowing where the applications are coming from. NTIA is sharing with CERC the number of coupon applications coming in from each state, as well as detailed with the first 3-digit zip codes.

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Take me to the eSCRAP – ELECTRONICS RECYCLING Section

How to best design – at the front end – and properly dispose – at the back end – consumer electronics is an issue CERC is intimately involved in. We have been actively working on a national approach to the handling of electronics at their end-of-life, promoting a shared responsibility “Product Stewardship” approach. CERC has developed a set of Electronic Scrap Management Principals as part of a legislative advocacy platform.

CERC compiles and regularly updates a "Matrix of Active eScrap Legislation" that is currently being considered in various state legislatures and the U.S. Congress. We also have compiled a "Matrix of Enacted eScrap Laws" including the just passed and signed into law, Minnesota Producer Responsibility measure.

CERC has been calling for Federal legislation as part of its electronics recycling policy position for a number of years. We recently crafted a draft Proposal for Federal Legislation with the leading computer manufacturer, HP, and have submitted our outline to the U.S. Congressional eScrap Working Group, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) who is supportive of a national approach, as well as with a cross-section of interested stakeholders, including other manufacturers, scrap recyclers, environmental groups and state/local environmental officials.