Government Evaluating New Samsung Note7 Phone Battery Amid Fire Risk
The company said late last week that it was seeking an official recall.
— -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is set to evaluate the battery that Samsung is using in replacement Note7 smartphones, after previous batteries were found to have a fault which is believed to have caused some to catch fire.
The evaluation is a key step in the establishment of an official government-sanctioned recall, which requires that a remedy be made available to consumers, according to the CPSC's deputy director.
Samsung acknowledged it was seeking such a recall late last week after facing criticism over the "product exchange program" it had been offering customers.
After reports on social media claimed that the Note7 was catching fire or exploding, Samsung acknowledged on Sept. 2 that it had found "a battery cell issue" in the phone model which it had debuted only two weeks earlier. The company said it had received 35 reports of cases related to the battery but did not elaborate about those cases.
For people who had already bought the phone, the company said that it would "voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks."
Since then, more reports of alleged incidents with Note7 phones have emerged, including that of a Florida family which claimed that one exploded, setting their car on fire.
In that case, the company said it was "aware" of the incident and working with the family.
"Consumer safety is Samsung's highest priority," the representative said. "With regard to the Galaxy Note7, we are asking owners to take advantage of the product exchange program announced on Friday of last week. The program offers Note7 owners the opportunity to exchange the phone for a new one."
A week after the initial announcement, on Sept. 9, the CPSC stepped in, telling the public that it was "urging all consumers who own a Samsung Galaxy Note7 to power them down and stop charging or using the device," and announcing that, "CPSC and Samsung are working cooperatively to formally announce an official recall of the devices, as soon as possible."
Official Recall vs. 'Exchange Program'
A recall makes it illegal for a product that is subject of a recall to be sold, CPSC Deputy Director Patty Davis told ABC News.
With no official recall yet in place, the Note7 can still be sold. And without the recall, people who did not want to wait for Samsung's exchange program to provide them with a new device, can still sell their devices as used.
Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) -- which has strongly advised flyers not to turn on or charge Note7s in flight -- cannot ban the device without its being the subject of an official recall, a government official told ABC News.
Samsung has not detailed why it offered an exchange program, and a Samsung spokesperson did not immediately comment.
ABC News' David Kerley and Daniel Steinberger contributed to this report.
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