The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act raises Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) funding to $136 million in FY2014, increases the commission’s fulltime staff, and makes it easier for the CPSC to convene meetings. CPSC staff are banned from accepting industry-sponsored travel and expenses. The legislation increases consumer access to information about hazardous products while encouraging information sharing among local and federal agencies: the law requires the CPSC to create a publicly accessible database of harms related to the use of consumer products that are reported by consumers, government agencies, health care professionals, and other non-governmental sources. The bill enhances the Commission’s recall authority, makes rulemaking at the CPSC more efficient, and requires manufacturers of children’s products to place tracking information on all of their products. The Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act mandates third-party testing of children’s products by certified labs to ensure that they meet applicable standards and makes mandatory toy safety standards that are currently voluntary. Additionally, the bill improves monitoring of imported consumer products
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act strengthens the CPSC inspector general, mandating that the inspector general create a website for CPSC employee reports of waste and fraud, and authorizes state attorneys general to bring civil actions on behalf of residents to obtain injunctive relief from a violation of a consumer product safety rule. A so-called whistleblower protection clause safeguards private sector employees who object to or inform authorities about violations of consumer product safety rules. The bill increases civil penalties for violators of the Consumer Product Safety Act from $1.8 million to $15 million. The legislation also bans paint and children’s products that contain more than a minimal amount of lead or phthalates (a substance added to plastic to make it more flexible) and expands the definition of children’s products to include all goods that are primarily intended for youths under the age of 12.
The Middle-Class Position:
The Middle Class Supports. The record-setting 448 product recalls last year made 2007 the year of the recall. Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission is responsible for protecting consumers from more than 15,000 types of consumer products, an anemic budget and staff shortages have increasingly put middle-class American consumers at risk. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a compromise version of bills passed by the House and Senate bills earlier in the year, responds vigorously to the dangers that middle-class consumers increasingly confront at the supermarket, at the toy store, and in their own homes. By providing the CPSC with additional funding through 2014, along with a mandate to increase its fulltime staff and a rule making committee meetings and rulemaking easier, the legislation helps to ensure that competent inspectors remain vigilant of consumer safety. Empowering state attorneys general to file suit when they believe that residents of a state have been adversely affected by a violation of a consumer product safety rule creates an additional layer of consumer protection. Independent third-party testing of children’s products prevents the insidious practice by which manufacturers would certify the safety of their own goods, while mandatory toy safety standards are a commonsense response to the recent explosion of toy recalls. A database of consumer complaints about dangerous products will both educate the public about potentially harmful goods and allow consumers to voice their concerns about such products. The ban on lead and phthalates in children’s products and the increase in the age level at which a product is considered to be intended for a child will benefit parents who would otherwise be unable to determine if a toy is safe. Whistleblower protections will ensure that vigilant industry employees do not fear job or compensation loss for reporting negligent manufacturing practices or poor oversight.
From the Experts:
“A stronger Inspector General and a website for CPSC employees to anonymously report their concerns, along with whistleblower protections for those who report about unsafe products, will contribute to more transparency and accountability at this agency.” – Francesca T. Grifo, Union of Concerned Scientists, 7/30/2008
“This bill introduces critical reforms like ensuring that toys are tested for safety before they go on the market, banning certain hazardous substances, and creating an online database for consumers to share information about dangerous products with each other…Consumers don't always come out on top in Congress, especially when big business fights hard, but this time consumers won big. Congress deserves applause.” – David Arkush, Public Citizen, 7/31/2008
Beyond this Bill:
Previous House and Senate versions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act included provisions that would have limited CPSC rules preempting strong laws regulating consumer products at the state level. Such measures are critical to ensuring that states can protect their middle-class consumers. By failing to include this critical measure, the Act puts many stricter state consumer product laws in danger of being preempted by weak federal regulation.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act improves public access to information about harmful products, enhances enforcement of consumer product safety rules, and strengthens a Consumer Product Safety Commission that has been neglected in recent years. However, exclusions from the lead ban and other exceptions to rules set forth by the legislation can encourage manufacturers to find ways around safety standards. Further, caps on civil penalties encourage noncompliance on the part of manufacturers when their profit margins are greater than the monetary cap. Indeed, the $15 million cap set forth in the compromise legislation is a far cry from the $100 million cap originally requested. Utilizing its improved resources, the CPSC must work assiduously to promulgate consumer product safety rules in a timely fashion.
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