CU, coalition, urges Obama Administration to appoint new leadership to CPSC

Consumers Union, together with five other consumer and science groups, has issued a statement expressing continued support for the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), and urging President Obama to appoint new leadership to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to help implement this important new consumer safety law. In a statement released today, the advocacy groups said:

The CPSIA is a strong consumer protection law that already provides safety regulators with the authority they need to ensure the safety of consumer products, especially those designed for children. For example, it has strengthened the agency’s scientific integrity by making it easier for employees to anonymously report threats to the agency’s science, and encouraging CPSC scientists to publish in peer-reviewed journals. Importantly, it also authorizes the CPSC to address issues voiced on behalf of small businesses – authority that the agency has begun to slowly exercise in some cases.

Addressing concerns that have been raised by some businesses about requirements for compliance with the new law, the groups stated that “the CPSC has the authority to exempt materials from testing requirements where there is no risk of harm to the public health, and it has already issued a proposed rule to exempt wood and untreated wool and cotton, which we agree is the right thing to do. The CPSC also may permit some businesses to meet the testing requirements by certifying that each component used is certified or exempt.”

The full statement from the groups, which include Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Kids in Danger, U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Public Citizen is available here. The letter from the groups to President Obama is available here.