Great News! The House and Senate have offically passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 paving the path to better protect our children from potentially harmful products.
Today, President Bush officially signed into law the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act, also known as H.R. 4040, which requires manufacturers and importers to subject toys and other nursery products to strict safety tests before they hit store shelves.
So, what does this mean for parents? Here’s a synopsis of the bill.
The bill requires mandatory third party safety certification of products made for children 12 and under. Upon CPSC accreditation, private labs could be allowed to test products if they provide equal or greater consumer protection than available third party labs. Authorizes CPSC personnel to enter and inspect any firewalled lab certified under the Consumer Product Safety Act and withdraw accreditation if necessary. The JPMA Certification Program is subject to update and is expected to be able to provide a turnkey solution to testing and certification requirements.
Certain durable infant products: Specifically identifies products that will need to contain product registration cards including: full-size cribs and non-full-size cribs; toddler beds; high chairs, booster chairs, and hook-on chairs; bath seats; gates and other enclosures for confining a child; play yards; stationary activity centers; infant carriers; strollers; walkers; swings; and bassinets and cradles.
Phthalates: Permanently bans the sale of children’s products containing trace concentrations of three phthalates DEHP, DBP, or BBP. Temporarily bans products containing trace concentrations of DINP, DIDP, or DnOP unless further study and evaluation prompts the CPSC to lift the ban.
Whistleblower Protections: Provides whistleblower protections for private sector employees.
Funding: Authorizes funding levels for the CPSC for five years beginning in 2010 (FY2010, $118 million; FY2011, $115.6 million; 2012, $124 million; 2013, $132 million; 2014, $136 million). As part of the authorization, Conferees directed $25 million toward establishing a public database (see below for additional info).
Quorum: Allows a two-member quorum at the CPSC to conduct official business for the one year period beginning on the date of enactment. The CPSC currently is without a quorum and cannot conduct business that requires Commission action such as a mandatory recall. Restores the Commission to five members instead of three members to prevent future absences of quorum.
Rulemaking Process: Streamlines the product safety rulemaking process to be timelier by eliminating a mandatory “Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” step.
Lead in Substrates: Bans lead for products manufactured for children age 12 or younger. Specifically, the permissible level of lead in children’s products would be 600 ppm within 180 days, 300 ppm after one year, and 100 ppm after three years following enactment, if feasible. The CPSC is directed to periodically review and lower the limit and also to accept inaccessible parts and parts that do not pose a human health risk.
Database: Within two years, the CPSC will establish a searchable database to include any reports of injuries, illness, death or risk related to consumer products submitted by consumers, local, state, or national government agencies, child care providers, physicians, hospitals, coroners, first responders, and the media. Upon receiving a complaint, the CPSC has five days to submit the complaint to the manufacturer. The manufacturer then has 10 days to respond. The complaint and manufacturers response would then be posted on the database. The CPSC would have the authority to remove or correct a complaint if it is found to be inaccurate.
Civil Fines: Increases the civil fine penalty cap from $5,000 to $100,000 per individual violation, and from $1.25 million to $15 million for aggregate violations.
Criminal Penalties: Increases criminal penalties to five years in jail for those who knowingly and willingly violate product safety laws.
Attorneys General: Provides authority for state attorneys general to enforce consumer product safety laws and act expeditiously to remove dangerous products from shelves.
Labeling: Requires manufacturers to label children’s products with tracking information useful to consumers and retailers in identifying recalled products.
Recalled Products: Makes it unlawful for retailers to sell a recalled product.
Supply Chain: Requires companies to identify manufacturers and subcontractors in the supply chain.
Export of Recalled Products: Enables the CPSC to prohibit a U.S. entity from exporting a product that does not comply with consumer product safety rules unless the importing country has notified the Commission of its permission.
Import Safety: Requires the CPSC to develop a plan to identify shipments of consumer products intended for import into the U.S. Improves information sharing among federal agencies, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Destruction of Noncompliant Imports: Provides greater CPSC oversight to prevent the entry of unsafe consumer products in the U.S.
Posted by Beth Fisher McGregor, TravelingWithKids.com
Traveling With Kids finding great products and information to make travel with kids easier, safer and more fun!
