Product & Food Safety News

 

CPSC will be strengthened; Consumers will be better protected from Unsafe Products, Holes In Product Safety Net Fixed

Bill to Reform the Consumer Product Safety Commission Passes Out of Senate Committee Today, Congress Takes Action After Recall of 25 Million Unsafe Toys in 2007

MASSPIRG today commended U.S. Senator John Kerry, and the members of the Senate Commerce Committee for its voice-vote passage of the CPSC Reform Act of 2007, S. 2045, (Pryor-AR). The bill is based on MASSPIRG’s 3-part platform to protect the public: it strengthens bans on lead in children’s products, adds money and resources to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and improves surveillance of imports.

“This bill fixes the holes in the product safety net and would make the CPSC the bigger agency that could, instead of the little agency that couldn’t,” said Janet Domenitz, Executive Director of MASSPIRG. “With 25 million unsafe toys found in 2007 alone, we clearly need to hold toy manufacturers accountable for making their products safe by beefing up the enforcement authority of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”

The CPSC Reform Act of 2007, S. 2045 was introduced by Senator Mark Pryor (AK), and co-sponsored by Senators Inouye (HI) Brown (OH), Durbin (IL), Klobuchar (MN) and Bill Nelson (FL). This bill increases the CPSC’s annual budget from $62.7 million to $141.7 million by 2015, and significantly increases the agency’s authority to get unsafe toys off of store shelves quickly. The bill increases civil monetary penalties from $1.8 million to $100 million per violation, requires independent third-party testing of products, improves CPSC’s ability to disclose safety information to the public, and contains a bright line ban on lead paint in children’s toys. The bill also allows state attorneys general to help enforce the law.

“We’re incredulous that the Acting Chair of the CPSC, Nancy Nord, has opposed key parts of this legislation that would give this agency, which the public relies on for its safety,  the tools it needs,” added Domenitz . “The CPSC has gotten too cozy with toy manufacturers, and now those companies are more influenced by Wal-Mart’s demands for low prices than the CPSC’s threats of fines for breaking the law.”

MASSPIRG and other consumer groups have been working to ensure that the bill would be as protective of consumers as possible. The bill passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee yesterday with many strengthening amendments supported by the groups including: internet and catalogue warning labels; product registration cards to improve how consumers find out about recalls, mandatory toy safety standards, and improved whistleblower protections. Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are working on, but have yet to introduce, similar legislation.

"The Senate Commerce Committee, and Senator Kerry a member of the Committee,  today gave the agency some of the tools it needs to protect all Americans, especially children, from dangerous imports and other hazards,” concluded Domenitz.

MASSPIRG takes on powerful interests on behalf of its members. See www.masspirg.org. For more information on MASSPIRG’s efforts to protect children from dangerous toys, go to www.toysafety.net.