Tracking Label Enforcement

CPSC COMMISSIONER MOORE VOTES TO PREVENT

STAY OF ENFORCEMENT ON TRACKING LABELS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 14, 2009

Contact: Ashley Hutto, (202) 828-7637, ashley.hutto@bgllp.com

The Commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) split their vote today on a request by the National Association of Manufacturers for an emergency stay of enforcement of the tracking label requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). This marked the first time that there was not a unanimous vote by the Commissioners on a CPSIA-related matter. The tie vote means that no stay will be granted and the tracking label requirement will go into effect as scheduled in August 2009. Acting Chair Nancy Nord voted to grant the stay request and Commissioner Thomas Moore voted to deny it.

Rick Woldenberg, Chairman of the Alliance for Children’s Product Safety, issued the following statement in response to the vote:

“We are deeply disappointed in Commissioner’s Moore vote to deny the petition. His vote will result in more chaos for manufacturers and retailers from this law – particularly for small businesses – who are already reeling from a difficult recession. The leaders of Congress should take note that Acting Chair Nord, in voting to approve the petition, showed the flexibility and leadership that had been urged in letters by Senator Mark Pryor (Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs) and other Members of Congress. It is time for these same Members of Congress to urge Commissioner Moore to do the same.

“Because of a deluge of conflicting priorities caused by the CPSIA, the CPSC has yet to issue rules for implementing the label requirement that will take effect in three months, leaving little time for manufacturers to prepare. Even when the new rules are released, tracking labels will create practical problems for small businesses. Processing labels is expensive and adds significantly to the complexity of small production runs. In addition, some products have more than one source or are assembled from components made at different times. Small businesses are throwing up their hands over this new burden.

“It is time for Congress to fix this law, which has caused massive economic damage because of its overly broad definition of children’s products, its unrealistic deadlines and its retroactive bans on the sale of existing inventory.”

The Alliance for Children’s Product Safety is a coalition of small business owners, manufacturers, crafters and entrepreneurs who are impacted by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. To view the Alliance’s Capitol Hill rally that took place April 1, 2009, visit www.AmendTheCPSIA.com. For more information, please contact Ashley Hutto at (202) 828-7637.

Barton & Others Propose H.R. 1815 – Possible Relief

The submission of the bill HR 1815 by Rep Barton and a handful of other Representatives is meant to clarify the applicability of certain provisions of the CPSIA (and for other purposes).

We recommend that you read this bill and then contact your your representatives to ask that they co-sponsor or vote in favor of this bill.

Info about CPSIA from National School Supply & Equipment Assoc

Here is a link to the great information provided by the National School Supply & Equipment Association about CPSIA and compliance.

Video from the Rally: Joe Barton

Here is the clip of Joe Barton speaking at today’s Amend the CPSIA rally in Washington DC.

DeMint Amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution

SUPPORT THE DEMINT AMENDMENT TO THE SENATE BUDGET RESOLUTION

Senator DeMint will offer an amendment to the budget resolution to create a deficit-neutral reserve fund to protect small and home businesses from the burdensome and impractical requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008.

The CPSIA has caused many small and home businesses to unnecessarily increase the costs of their products without providing substantial improvement in product safety.   The legislation was drafted so broadly that it swept up small and family businesses that were never part of the problem.  The law imposes burdensome testing requirements when more common-sense approaches could guarantee the same level of safety.   Congress should have done better and it can do better.

The amendment that Senator DeMint will offer would:

• Delay the lead limits 6 months.
  • Congress and American businesses need breathing room so that we can fix this act.

• Exempt thrift stores and other second hand sellers
  • The Goodwill and the Salvation Army have never been a safety problem and in these hard economic times people need access to affordable goods now more than ever.

• Exempt the sale of books and children’s motorcycles from the CPSIA.
  
  • Books and bikes were never the problem.  These two products are the perfect example of the law of unintended consequences.

• Allows manufacturers to show that their products are within the lead limits by showing that all the components of their products are within the lead limit.
  • Lead doesn’t come out of thin-air! If it’s not in the component it won’t be in the product.   This is a common-sense approach that will save businesses thousands of dollars without compromising safety one bit.

• Prevents retroactive enforcement that would require otherwise safe products from having to be destroyed.
  • There are hundreds of millions of dollars of safe products on the shelves and in warehouses today that should be sold.  It is senseless to make businesses destroy perfectly good products.

These reforms will go a long way to fixing the CPSIA.  It’s also important to outline what this amendment won’t do.

The amendment will not change the lead limits in the Act.  The amendment would keep the same lead limits in place in the bill and require that the overwhelming majority of all children’s product sold in the U.S. – except the few exempted above – meet the stringent new standards in the CPSIA.   This is crucial.  Children will not be exposed to any higher levels of lead because of my amendment.  The only change will be a reform of the bureaucratic hoops that small and home businesses have to jump through.

If you have any questions about the amendment please do not hesitate to contact Tom Jones (tom_jones AT commerce DOT senate DOT gov) with Senator DeMint at 202-224-6121.

Nancy Nord Responds to Sen Durbin’s Letter

Click here to read Nancy Nord’s response to Senator Durbin’s letter of March 27th.

Durbin Blasts CPSC Chair for Recent Comments on Criticizing New Consumer Safety Laws

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to Nancy Nord, Acting Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today, expressing concern over recent public comments Nord has made that are critical of new legislation and show her continued resistance to modernizing the much maligned agency.

“Recent comments you have made in the press and in letters to Congress regarding the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) show your continued resistance to modernizing your agency and addressing the genuine public concern over unsafe products,” Durbin wrote. You accused a law that significantly strengthens the Commission’s hand as having “taken away our responsibility to look at the risks and make judgments about what is or isn’t safe for American consumers.” You have also agreed with the appalling implication that the law is responsible for the deaths and serious injuries of children who ride adult ATVs and motorbikes. Noticeably absent from the majority of your public remarks is an emphasis on protecting consumer safety, which happens to be the mission of the agency you lead. Your recent comments make clear that your misguided personal views have not changed, even if they contradict the mission of the agency that you lead and the President that you now serve.”

For more about this letter, go to Senator Durbin’s site and scroll down below the above excerpt.

CPSIA Casualties

 

 

 

European Company Simba Toys pulls out of American market
http://challengeandfun.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/03/simba-toys-pulls-out-of-usa-thanks-cpsia.html

Amazon removing thousands of SKUs from toys and games category
http://www.amazonsellercommunity.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=2037414&tstart=0

Youth motorcycle and ATV Ban
Dealer left with $118,000 in inventory he cannot sell.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/05/motorcycles-lead-law-pain_n_172109.html

Makers pushing back on toxic-toy law
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123621357629835121.html?mod=rss_US_News

Rules on toxin stall mini-bike sales
$100 Million worth of child size bikes unsalable, $1 Billion annual loss to industry
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903150333

Gymboree shares down 40%
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSBNG44760220090305

PTA Shop removes all children’s items from shelves
http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/community/story/28612/PTA_Thrift_Shop_Affected_by_Recent_Toy_Regulations/

Suspension of children’s soft toy line + Thrift shop worries
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2009/02/22/business/local/14440956.txt

Hands and Hearts Homeschool History Kits Discontinued Indefinitely
http://handsandhearts.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=99

Hawaii doll shop closes
http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=9799062&nav=menu55_2

German Toymaker Selecta pulls out of US Market
http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6620437.html

Chairman Nord Responds to Dingell’s Letter

Letter from Acting Chairman Nord to Representative John D. Dingell about the CPSIA implementation, March 20, 2009 (http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/dingell032009.pdf)

Letter from Commissioner Moore

The Commissioners believe only they can make the right changes to the law and that congress shouldn’t bother.

Letter from Commissioner Moore to Representative John D. Dingell about the CPSIA implementation, March 20, 2009 (http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/dingell032009a.pdf)