There Oughta Be a Law
By Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 11/12/2007 12:57:00 PM
Though as of press time there is no comprehensive law banning lead in children’s products, that state of affairs may soon change, as Congress is holding hearings on toy recalls. Senator Bill Nelson (D–FL) has proposed the Children’s Products Safety Act of 2007, which would require independent third party testing of products for ages five and younger. Senator Barack Obama (D–IL) introduced the Lead Free Toys Act of 2007, which would give CPSC authority to ban children’s product made of lead.
Members of Congress have called for the CPSC to do more, and its acting chairwoman Nancy Nord said it would help if Customs and Border protection had more training in consumer safety laws. According to The New York Times, Nord acknowledged that CPSC has too few employees at the ports to effectively screen imports. CPSC, which began in 1974 with a staff of almost 800 and a budget of $125 million in today’s dollars, today has only about half that many employees (and about half that money — $63.25 million). Of those, only about 100 are inspectors.
Still, Nord recently made headlines for urging the Senate Commerce Committee to reject a proposal which would give the CPSC more funding and more legal authority, on the grounds that the penalty cap, criminal penalty provisions and standards requirements were unnecessary, and the expanded mission too demanding for even the higher level of staff and funding to meet. House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) called on Nord to resign, but as of November 1, Nord said she had no intention of doing so.
The proposal Nord opposed reflected many of the concerns raised by Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports. Donald Mays, Consumers Union senior director of product safety planning and technical administration, outlined a comprehensive program of consumer product safety reform. He recommended that Congress hold importers, distributors and retailers as well as manufacturers accountable by requiring pre-shipment inspections and testing. “We believe that the pressure major retailers place on suppliers to cut costs often results in cut corners,” said Mays.
He suggested increased resources for government safety agencies, giving agencies the power to levy higher civil penalties (currently the CPSC’s maximum is $1.83 million), and make principals who knowing and repeatedly sell dangerous products personally subject to criminal penalties. He also recommended that agencies be given mandatory recall powers, and that agencies be required to publicly disclose reports of adverse events and ongoing investigations.
Furthermore, Mays suggests a traceability program for products, components and ingredients, as well as country-of-origin labeling; U.S. government-administered, third party safety certifications; requiring importers to post a bond to ensure they have enough resources for a recall, and making it illegal to sell products that have been recalled.
Consumers Union is not alone in calling for more stringent standards: the Toy Industry Association (TIA) called for uniform standards which would cover frequency of testing, at what point in production and for what specific hazards, plus set global requirements for labs. The TIA asked the American National Standards Institute to help develop the new specifications, which are intended to be ready by year’s end.
