Bush Signs Stricter Safety Regs Into Law
By Staff -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 8/14/2008 12:14:00 PM
Washington, DC — President George W. Bush signed The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 into law. The Act is intended to strengthen safety standards for toys and other children’s products, as well as increasing oversight by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).In addition to cutting permitted lead amounts to under 100 parts per million, according to ABC News, the bill partially bans plastic softeners known as phthalates, according to Reuters. The act makes three phthalates permanently illegal and three others temporarily illegal until the CPSC can determine whether the chemicals are dangerous, according to consumeraffairs.com.
Other provisions include a new publicly accessible consumer complaint database, increased civil penalties for violators, and whistleblower protection. State attorneys general will be empowered to enforce safety laws in their states. (For more on state safety standards, see “A Patchwork of Protection” in the August issue of Gifts & Decorative Accessories.)
The Toy Industry Association (TIA) issued a statement applauding Bush’s action. Carter Keithley, TIA’s president, said: “With the health and safety of children our primary concern, the toy industry supports the creation of a uniform national standard for product safety and testing, upon which consumers across the nation can rely. TIA is developing a Toy Safety Certification Program in conjunction with the American National Standards Institute to help toy companies meet the requirements.
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