Still Not Safe: New Recalls Underline Need for Strong Hazardous Product Legislation
STILL NOT SAFE: NEW RECALLS UNDERLINE NEED FOR STRONG HAZARDOUS PRODUCT LEGISLATION A report by Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports May 15, 2008 In its 2007 fiscal year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a record 473 product recalls as the marketplace was besieged by unsafe toys and other products. The recalls included more than 25 million toys, tainted with hazardous lead paint, harmful, tiny magnets, toxic chemicals, and other dangers. In response, on December 19, 2007, the House of Representatives passed the CPSC Modernization Act, which gave the CPSC expanded powers and funding to improve product safety. The Senate passed its own CPSC reform legislation in early March. Members of the House and Senate are meeting now to hammer out a final agreement on a bill that can be endorsed by both houses and go to the President. It is essential that they combine the best consumer protection provisions in each bill. Much is still at stake. In just the first four months of 2008, the CPSC has recalled almost 10 million more consumer products. More than half of these, almost 6 million, were children’s products—toys, clothing, pacifiers, bicycles. More than 1.3 million of the children’s products were recalled because they contained dangerous levels of lead. And as in the past, the bulk of recalled products were imported from China—some 87 percent. Recalls, however, are not the solution; they only catch dangerous products after they have entered our stores, homes, and toy boxes. The real solution involves making certain that manufacturers test their products before they get to the market to ensure that they are safe for consumers, and penalizing those who do not comply with more stringent safety rules.
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