By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.com
July 13, 2007
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is preparing tougher import regulations in the wake of unparalleled numbers of recalled Chinese products.
The agency, which has been widely criticized by consumer advocates and Capitol Hill Democrats as being weak and slow to act, is in the process of compiling a list of proposed new regulations that could yield broader import inspections and stiffer penalties.
CPSC spokespeople said the new regulations were inspired by the many dangerous Chinese products being imported, including Meerkat ATVs, which blatantly disregard many voluntary ATV safety standards and Thomas and Friends toy trains, which were smeared with lead-based paint.
A recent ConsumerAffairs.com analysis found that 96 percent of all toy recalls this year were Chinese products.
While many industry leaders fear the tougher regulations could be a drain on profits, the proposals are likely many months -- or years -- from becoming enforceable as they require Congressional approval and the official adoption by the CPSC, which currently does not have enough commissioners to vote.
Acting commission chair Nancy Nord, a Bush appointee, is writing the proposals and it is unclear whether the White House will approve them.
While not all details have been revealed, her plan calls for importers and manufacturers to certify that products comply with regulatory standards. The agency currently waits until most products are already on the market before issuing a recall and many studies have shown that many consumers never discover their purchases have been recalled.
The proposed rule would also increase the agencys fining ability from $2 million to $10 million.
Currently, the agency is powerless to levy fines because there are only two of the required three commissioners, a hole created by President Bushs last appointee, Hal Stratton, who resigned abruptly in June 2006 to become a lobbyist.
Bush nominated Michael Baroody, the executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, to replace Stratton, setting off protests from consumer advocates who said Baroody had devoted his career to working against product safety.
Just one day before the Senate Commerce Committee was set to vote, Baroody withdrew. The White House has been silent on who Bush's next nominee might be.
Thomas Moore, the other commissioner, who is a Democrat, is planning to reveal his own proposed initiatives soon.
With a mostly unchanged budget this year and a dwindling staff, the CPSC has been hard-pressed to carry out its existing duties. Consumer advocates worry that the troubled agency would have difficulty implementing the new proposed new regulations.
Sally Greenberg of Consumers Union and Rachel Weintraub of the Consumer Federation of America said the nation needs tighter import inspections so that consumers are not the first to discover what is dangerous. Weintraub suggested that if the importers were held more accountable for the products they provide, that would ultimately ripple back to the foreign companies they buy from.
