Consumer Groups Applaud House Passage of Strong Product Safety Bill;
Urge Senate to Pass Reform Measure this week
Today, consumer,
public interest and scientific groups applaud the U.S. House of
Representatives for passing strong product safety reform legislation
that would overhaul the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The
bi- partisan Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act will make consumer
products safer by requiring that toys and infant products be tested
before they are sold, and by banning lead and phthalates in toys. The
bill also will create a publicly accessible consumer complaint
database, give the CPSC the resources it needs to protect the public,
increase civil penalties that CPSC can assess against violators of CPSC
laws, and protect whistleblowers who report product safety defects.
In approving this sweeping reform measure, the House of
Representatives put children’s and consumer’s safety first by enacting
the most significant improvements of the Consumer Product Safety
Commission since the agency was established in the 1970’s. The Senate
must vote on this measure this week, before the August recess, the
groups urged.
“After CPSC has suffered death by a thousand cuts, the House gave
the Commission a new life with increased resources, authority and
transparency to better ensure the safety of consumer products. We urge
the Senate to complete this vital task and pass this unprecedented
product safety reform this week before August recess,” said Rachel
Weintraub, Director of Product Safety and Senior Counsel with Consumer
Federation of America.
“The countdown to safer products has hopefully begun in earnest
today with the bi-partisan House passage of sweeping product safety
reforms. The Senate must also pass this legislation this week, and the
President should sign on the dotted line so that the overhaul of the
beleaguered CPSC can finally start. That's when consumers will start to
have more confidence in the safety of the products they buy,” said Ami
Gadhia, Policy Counsel with Consumers Union.
“We applaud the House for recognizing that toxic chemicals like lead
and phthalates have no business in our children’s toys,” said U.S. PIRG
Public Health Advocate Elizabeth Hitchcock. “This bill is a huge
victory for America's littlest consumers in the face of ExxonMobil and
the chemical industry’s efforts to gut it. The Senate should waste no
time in sending it to the President’s desk.”
"House passage of this bill brings critical safety reforms to within
steps of the finish line," said David Arkush, Director of Public
Citizen's Congress Watch division. "Now the Senate needs to finish the
job."
“The House did the right thing by banning phthalates—chemicals that
may be associated with reproductive problems and cancer—in children’s
toys and products,” said Dr. Diana Zuckerman, president of the National
Research Center for Women and Families. “The House put children’s
safety first.”
“Scientists working on consumer product safety will also benefit
from this new legislation,” said Dr. Francesca T. Grifo, director,
Scientific Integrity Program, Union of Concerned Scientists. “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,” added Grifo.
“With today’s House passage of the Consumer Product Safety
Improvement Act, we are one step closer to establishing a child safety
system that will keep our children safe from tainted toys and
collapsing cribs,” stated Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids In
Danger. “We now urge the Senate and the President to act swiftly to get
these life-saving measures in place.”
The House and Senate conferees on the product safety measure
concluded action this weekend. The conference report on the legislation
must now be approved by the President for his signature. Here are some
examples of how this legislation changes and improves the safety of
products sold in the United States:
• Lead will be essentially eliminated from toys and children’s products.
• Consumers will have access to a publicly-accessible database to report and learn about hazards posed by unsafe products.
• Toys and other children’s products will be required to be tested for safety before they are sold.
• State Attorneys General will have the necessary authority to enforce product safety laws.
• CPSC has the authority to levy more significant civil penalties
against violators of its safety regulations, which will help deter
wrongdoing.
• Toxic phthalates will be been banned from children’s products.
• Whistleblowers will be granted important protections.
• CPSC will receive substantial increases in its resources –
including its staffing levels, its laboratory and computer resources
and its various authorities to conduct recalls and take other actions -
going forward.
