CPSIA – ICPHSO Update – Remarks of Gib Mullan, Head of CPSC Enforcement

Gib Mullan’s remarks on enforcement:

• Import surveillance staff is now up to 18 people.
• Using Commercial Targeting Analysis Center (CTAC) to stop things at the port. Can see what’s coming in before it arrives.
• Is working with the International Trade Commission, the folks responsible for HTS Codes (Harmonized Tariff Schedule). The CPSC is trying to “piggyback” on HTS code to identify the products of interest to the agency. Making “significant headway”.
• Imports samples rising at a rapid rate. Only about half of the samples fail.
• Use of XRF is one of the agency’s “secrets for success”. Will use for cadmium, too. Only one-tenth of items scanned are being sampled. This implies that less than 5% of items scanned fail. Most items are not inspected, which is just a numbers game.
• Field Investigation Division is back to a “growth mode”, in 55 locations with 89 investigators. Expanding to Internet surveillance. They have seen a surge in eBay sales of recalled items after recalls are announced. Interesting!
• Created email address for the public to report sales of recalled products. Now everyone can be on a cop on the beat, how wonderful. Hope I can still trust my kids. . . .
• Retailer reports are rising. Participants in this program include WalMart, Sears, Amazon and others. 20,000 reports a year. Also reports by email and on the hot line 800 number are jumping. The total number of reports is cresting at 50,000 per year. All of this is BEFORE the public database. [Soon a system will be fully constructed that will make doing business in the U.S. children's product industry impossible, something to look forward to (this is my thought, not Gib's remarks).]
• Field “blitzes” are increasing. Examples are pool and spas, drywall, drawstrings, cribs. This is a new activity although blitzes at the port are old hat, in my experience.
• Defect Investigations Division has 19 compliance officers.
• Recalls in 2009 DECLINED from 563 to 466. Number of units went up to an all-time high, 229 million units. Lots of big recalls in 2009. Should we feel safer now? I wonder . . . . Gib himself questions whether this is “good or bad”.
• Fast Track recalls are pretty steady. “Fast tracks” are recalls initiated by companies and brought to the CPSC’s attention by the company itself. CPSC-initiated recalls are steady in the 50-60 range. Cases stemming from regulatory violations declined from 167 to 47.
• Early warning system relating to cribs, bassinets and play yards is resulting in faster recalls. [No info on the availability of cribs and so on was provided, or the cost of those goods now.]
• Joint recalls with Canada was done first on February 19, 2009 (that fills in a hole!). Total of 13 joint recalls in 2009 and 16 in 2010 to date. Expects more joint recalls in the future, broadening to other countries. Gib thinks this makes it simpler for companies going through recalls. Again, not sure how I feel about this but am not opposed in principle.
• Regulatory Enforcement Division has 18 Compliance Officers now. This includes Chemical, Children’s, Flammability and Mechanical hazards. Letters of Advice (”LOAs”) fell a bit in 2009 by perhaps 12%. Only a small percentage result in recalls. In 2009, found 338 lead content violations and 118 lead in paint violations, mainly at the port. Recalls have come down considerably, almost to zero. Stops at the port are higher than that, but don’t result in recalls necessarily. Those are declining, too.
• Compliance Division now has 14 of its own attorneys
• Civil penalties rose a lot in 2009. Gib specifically noted that he was not being “gleeful” about penalties but simply noting that penalties are a more serious risk now. I am okay with this tone, it is common sense. Penalties totalled nearly $9 million. I just hope that penalties moderate and become more purposeful, rather than political.
• Made a STRONG point about fraudulent testing. The CPSC caught fraud in lighter testing and it led to criminal charges. They are working on another case now. This is great news as far as I am concerned. Cheating is a REAL problem (an actual problem, not an imaginary problem). The CPSC should find the bad guys and punish them. The resources of the agency are well-served if focused on removing these unscrupulous people from the market.
• The agency is forging new alliances with the State AGs. They have a monthly conference call with this group. This is the CPSC’s proactive effort to reign in the State AGs by making them part of the process. If this works, great. Again, we need to watch out for the lowest common denominator risk.
• Working with China on implementing “best practices”. Getting better, faster. China recalls went DOWN in 2009 and he anticipates improved safety in Chinese products. This, too, is a good use of agency resources. If we really are getting better, faster, Gib and his team should take a bow. Safety benefits everyone. Next up, consideration of the relationship between these initiatives and cost. Safety is an inherently economic subject. We need recognition of this basic fact.

I have omitted all reference to drywall here. This is a one-of-a-kind problem that seems unrelated to the CPSIA as far as I can tell. Likewise, I have not attempted to summarize the issues relating to ATVs and other tangential product/safety issues brought up by Gib. [He did say that repairs to the Rhino seem to be working well, btw.]

To Gib’s credit, I found his presentation quite balanced with no particular effort to frighten. I appreciate the choice of tone for what could be a quite intimidating topic.

Gib’s presentation was one of the few I can recall in the last two years on the topic of enforcement that did not materially raise my blood pressure or make me think dark thoughts about the future. Let’s hope that the CPSC can build on this base to restore trust among the business community. Safety and fear mongering is an unholy alliance. The CPSC needs the cooperation and trust of the manufacturing base.

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CPSIA – ICPHSO Update – Remarks of Gib Mullan, Head of CPSC Enforcement

CPSIA – Are Toys Supposed To Be Fun Anymore?

In a wonderful Op-Ed last week, Windsor Mann lampoons the ridiculous CPSIA by announcing his intent to not give any presents this year. His plan is as simple as the subtitle of his essay: “Giving children what they need most – nothing”. Mr. Mann expands: “As someone who loves to be a wonderful person for a brief period of time, I enjoy this season of temporary giving. I am obsessed with helping people, especially children, and the best way to help children is by not giving them Christmas presents.”

Sadly, Mr. Mann observes that “toys are not something to play around with”, noting the recent recall of toy darts because an 8-year-old almost choked on a dart that he was chewing. This is a real case. [This recall is eerily similar to a life-imitates-art spoof on The Onion entitled "Fun Toy Banned Because Of Three Stupid Dead Kids".]

Mr. Mann recounts in hilarious fashion various recent recalls illustrating the fact that we seem to have lost sight of what constitutes safety. [He even mentions the unfortunate Timberland ankle-high boots recalled for the lead-in-paint logo on their insoles.] To make his point, Mr. Mann notes the useful instructions provided by the CPSC in its “The Super Sitter” manual for babysitters. Here’s some tips the government felt the need to give babysitters:

• “Keep the youngsters safe by preventing accidents.”
• “Running or horseplay on [stairs] can lead to falls.”
• “In the event of accidental choking, apply first aid measures to clear the child’s airway.”

He quips: “(In the event of intentional choking, do not apply first aid measures.)”

The fear of everything, railed at in this essay, is the philosophical underpinning of the misconceived CPSIA. There is no solution to this disease short of changing the law. In a world dominated by the fear of everything, nothing is safe and everything must be feared. Mr. Mann’s strategy of not giving gifts seems to be an appropriate response in this environment.

It’s a funny article, but it’s not a funny problem for those of us stubborn enough to remain in the children’s product market. I don’t know how it comes as a surprise to anyone that misuse of products or the absence of individual responsibility may result in injuries, but that plague has descended on our industries. The issues inherent in this shift away from common sense are many:

• Fear of liability creates a perception of COST that deters investment in products and markets. Random costs feed the fear.
• Unjustified fear of injury by consumers translates into lower sales or higher costs in making sales. Markets shrink. Consumer needs become difficult to meet.
• An atmosphere of fear affects regulators, who tend to recall more often and to assess more penalties (even if non-monetary) because it’s politically-expedient or follows the trend. In other words, it’s “safer” for regulators to err on the side of caution – but that cost is borne by somebody . . . businesspeople.
• Rules tighten illogically, diverting attention from real issues, increasing the cost of participating in the market. All parties suffer from the consequences of complexity, including regulators.
• Misallocation of resources (expending too much energy on unimportant things) leads eventually to true crisis, fueling the fire of the original proponents of the legislation. The obvious solution – even MORE government.

And the joke will be on you and on us, if we don’t do something about it. Mr. Mann takes a lighthearted swipe at the silliness of your Congress, but it’s really no laughing matter.

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CPSIA – Are Toys Supposed To Be Fun Anymore?

CPSIA – The Votes Are In . . . (The Stay Was Extended)

The CPSC Commission ballot votes were announced today with the five Commissioners’ statements released as well (Adler, Moore, Nord, Northup, Tenenbaum). The Commission made three decisions:

1. Adopted the interim enforcement policy allowing the use of component tests (5-0)
2. Lifted the stay on testing for bike helmets, dive sticks, bunk beds, and rattles (5-0)
3. Extended the stay on testing for lead content to February 10, 2011 “date certain” (4-1, Adler dissenting)

These votes reflect a considerable effort by the Commission to pull together. Other than Mr. Adler’s principled decision to opt out of the endorsement of a longer extension of the stay on lead content, the Commission managed to find common ground. The unification of the Commission, if it sticks, would be a positive development. I hope this is a sign of recognition that safety is not inherently political and therefore Democrats and Republicans can work cooperatively and productively together.

The extended stay (”Stay”) will be of value to manufacturers without endangering consumers. This is helpful . . . but is not a complete solution. It’s a compromise and may have to be revisited again. I believe the Commission was not able to agree on Ms. Northup’s formulation of the extension (six months after the issuance of the so-called “15 Month Rule”) because Mr. Adler’s objected to it as too open-ended and expressed a concern that it might be pushed out indefinitely. So now we have a stay expiring on a “date certain” and an agency with another artificial deadline to meet. The 15 Month Rule was not made an explicit condition of the decision, which means that more market chaos is probable.

Let’s step back at this point and think about the issues that this vote raises:

A. The notion that another year will be enough to tidy up the details on lead content is probably a pipe dream. A few points of reference:

• Today is the one year anniversary of my first comment letter on civil penalty factors. When they finally came out in September, I sent in a second comment letter. To date, the new penalty factors have not been announced. We are in our second year of waiting.
• The phthalate test standards are also in limbo. The agency has had two cracks at that one. The first one allowed testing of the entire product as a single part (based on statutory interpretation) and after a storm of protest from among others the CA AG, the CPSC reversed course and reissued the test standard requiring that each component, even internal inaccessible ones, be individually tested. No doubt this pleased Jerry Brown, candidate for governor of California, but it created (brace for it . . . ) another storm of protest. Yet more comment letters were submitted. And . . . nothing. Please NOTE that the phthalate ban was SO urgent that the CPSC allowed it to become effective RETROACTIVELY with exactly TWO BUSINESS DAYS NOTICE. Obviously, phthalates must be a serious problem right??? Well, the CPSC has twice investigated phthalates and given them a pass both times. A third CHAP is currently grinding away. You get the picture. Hurry up and wait – just like the Army.
• On January 30, Nancy Nord issued her statement in support of the original stay. In that letter, she called for the issuance of the component testing rule. Have you seen it yet? The interim enforcement policy is the closest thing we have to a component testing rule. The birthday party for Ms. Nord’s call to action is about a month away. Get the cake ready.

I am skeptical that the “15 Month Rule” will come out anytime soon. As Ms. Northup notes, it is going to be wickedly complicated. EVERY such rule when issued has been a major speed bump in the implementation process. See above . . . . The CPSC is also not without its other challenges or little projects. There is, of course, the day-to-day business of the agency like hunting for shoes with lead-infused insoles. There are also unexpected emergencies like Chinese drywall. And then there’s that endless time sink, the CPSIA, with its many unfolding requirements. Why just today, the CPSC announced yet another two-day workshop on the public database. Didn’t we just have a hearing on this? Perhaps I should buy a condo in Washington . . . . Anyhow, these other obligations will get in the way of the master plan here. That’s a certainty.

The consequences of these artificial deadlines for businesses are pretty severe. Our problems are largely with the “regulatory compliance exuberance” of our larger and more risk-averse dealers/retailers. This risk-aversion is principally driven by the excessive liability of the new law and the apparent predilection of the CPSC to hand out whopping fines. It is also related to speculation that it is only a matter of time before the agency or one of the State AGs decides to give the felony provisions a road test. Who will be first in line? Our larger customers have no interest in finding out. This may be why we have one customer who insists on testing EVERY item for lead-in-paint . . . even if it has no paint on it. And another customer who wants us to test EVERY item for flammability, even if the products are exempt (like paper-based items).

How do you think these customers will react to a “hard” deadline on testing? With little sympathy and a great deal of advanced planning. They will not want to speculate on whether we will get relief if the CPSC runs late on something important. Likewise, they will not want to stop and start. Some companies are ALREADY incorporating the August 2011 100 ppm lead standard into their requirements NOW – even though the CPSC has made NO determination that it will impose that (ridiculous) standard yet. A one year extension of the Stay means that the testing requirements will take form for us much sooner than February 10, 2011, and once started, will be hard to stop.

B. Some of the remarks of Commissioners at the hearing and in their statements seem detached from market realities. This is worrisome. The denial by certain Commissioners of information they have been provided (Adler: “While there will be some disruption in the marketplace no matter which date is chosen, no hard evidence has been brought to my attention that would require an even longer extension of this stay than two years from the passage of this landmark legislation”) and the misconstruction of the impact of their decisions (Adler: “I know of no company that has indicated that it will withhold production until the 15-month rule becomes effective.”) erodes confidence.

It’s time to abandon pretense and role-playing. The decisions being made have very serious consequences for many people (perhaps this is why I am still up at 1 AM writing this blog) and must be handled with the utmost sensitivity. If the Commissioners seem to be stuck in a tunnel with no end, believe me, so are manufacturers. Let’s not make the situation worse – particularly since there is NO crisis to resolve right now.

C. Of particular concern to me is that the agency seems to have lost its ability to determine what is safe and what is not. Today’s recall of Timberland scuffproof boots is just an illustration of our broken compass. The CPSIA’s famous “precautionary principle” holds that we cannot trust anything until it is proven safe upfront. Thus, the CPSIA subjects every product and every component in every children’s industry to new regulation, and requires the CPSC to carve out exceptions. This MAXIMIZES workload, chaos and confusion because it requires in-depth inquiries into EVERYTHING. This approach multiplies complexity as regulations devolve from common sense guidelines into endless lists of exceptions. Look around you – this entire mess, the last 18 months of misery and the coming months of new misery, is the inevitable outcome of this defective way to regulate our markets.

The mounting exceptions are only part of the mess. Then there are the interpretations. There is simply no way to catalog all of these decisions. Every nuance needs a regulator’s okay. Ms. Northup highlights the determination that a children’s water slide is NOT a “children’s product” because it must be designed to withstand the weight of an adult. Very good, quite a helpful decision, but HOW are manufacturers supposed to replicate that reasoning without taking undue liability risk? Isn’t it obvious that such determinations are quirky and hard to apply? The trend to greater opacity is unstoppable under this regime.

As long as we ignore this fundamental problem, we will face a worsening environment at the CPSC. The cohesiveness of this Commission today will degenerate quickly. The morale of CPSC staff will decline further. The rules and interpretations will pile high into the sky and manufacturers will start to ignore them – or just leave the marketplace for sunnier climes. Ridiculous demands of retailers for testing will drive more companies from the market or just cripple the ability of U.S. companies to compete internationally. The flaws in the CPSIA will also likely spark a consolidation trend toward bigger and bigger companies as this kind of environment is deadly to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Not a pretty picture. Thanks Congress!

So with this stay decision, I conclude that little has been accomplished to address the basic problems. We kicked the can down the road, which is fine, but the fundamental issues remain and will pop up again in short order. Until we put them to rest, the fighting will intensify, the agency will descend into gridlock and personal reputations and legacies will be harmed.

There is no need to stand idly by and let this carnage happen. As has been pointed out by many in recent days, the CPSC needs to tell Congress honestly what needs to be done to fix the law. Mr. Waxman has conceded a fix is necessary. We need now must tell Congress where they went wrong. I disagree with Ms. Northup that the CPSIA’s flaws were mysterious in July 2008 – but whether or not that’s true, they are pretty obvious now.

I wish the Commissioners and all my readers a restful holiday season, but after you have had a nice nap and a chance to catch up with the relatives, it’s back to work. We need to put together the list of fixes and march over to the Hill.

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CPSIA – The Votes Are In . . . (The Stay Was Extended)

CPSIA – Crain’s Says We’re About to Get Sued

In this week’s Crain’s Chicago Business, the news periodical speculate on which mass tort action could succeed asbestos as the next gravy train for plaintiff’s attorneys. And guess who makes a guest appearance??? Asbestos and the legal black hole By: Steven R. Strahler September 28, 2009 Asbestos has lived up to its Greek origin — “inextinguishable” — on legal and medical landscapes alike: Mass tort actions involving asbestos have bankrupted more than 60 makers and users of the once-widespread insulating material, starting with Johns-Manville Corp. in 1982 and claiming Chicago’s USG Corp. in 2001. Odds are, corporate defendants won’t see another mass tort topic like it: more than 700,000 claims pending against 8,000-plus defendants and estimated costs exceeding $250 billion. Because asbestos-related symptoms can take 30 years or more to manifest, the litigation is expected to last until mid-century. . . . . “No, there is no asbestos-like gravy train pulling up in front of the American Bar Assn.,” says Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute. Still, he says, “there are great unknowns, like climate change and latent manifestation of occupational disease.” Among the most likely post-asbestos targets for plaintiffs’ attorneys: . . . . Product liability The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 requires independent testing of children’s products, including cribs and metal jewelry, empowers state attorneys general to file federal actions and increases penalties, all of which will boost opportunities for mass-tort suits.

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CPSIA – Crain’s Says We’re About to Get Sued

CPSIA – Letter to CPSC re Tracking Labels Guidance 9-18-09

September 18, 2009 VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS Todd Stevenson Director, Office of the Secretary U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 4330 East West Highway Bethesda, MD 20814 Re: Section 103 Tracking Labels Guidance Dear Mr. Stevenson: I am writing on behalf of the Alliance for Children’s Product Safety, an organization comprised of small businesses in many industries impacted by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). I request your prompt consideration of an urgent matter regarding the impact of Section 103 tracking labels guidance issued on July 21 (the “Guidance”) on small businesses in America. By way of background, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I have expended considerable effort to help the agency avoid mishap in the implementation of the CPSIA’s troubling tracking labels provision in recent months. I have testified before the CPSC on tracking labels (May 12 hearing, second panel), wrote a comment letter on Section 103 , sent a letter to Rep. John Dingell in part addressing tracking labels and posted no less than 38 blog entries related to tracking labels, including a comprehensive list of “unanswered questions” about the Guidance. To date, none of my “unanswered questions” have been addressed by the agency in any form as far as I know. The Guidance was originally heralded as a document sensitive to the interests of small businesses. Some terms seemed to offer relief to small lot manufacturers who did not already mark products with lot information. This regulatory approach was forecast by Commissioner Moore in his May 13 statement explaining his vote on the NAM tracking labels stay petition, when he noted that tracking labels implementation would be “a learning process for all of us and not an excuse to punish an unwitting mistake.” Unfortunately, the Guidance also specified that all of the information in Section 103 needed to be “ascertainable” by both the manufacturer and consumers. This has been interpreted to mean that manufacturers must be able to produce “detailed production information, including the means to distinguish products made from different factories, made with different components, at different times” for any product pulled from any store shelf anywhere and at any time. The Commission made it clear that this is a serious legal obligation. As Mr. Moore wrote on July 20, “those who fail to keep the information required by the tracking label provision . . . will not find a very sympathetic ear at the Commission.” The issue of what “ascertainable” means gets to the heart of the issue that Mr. Moore highlighted. It is also at the heart of the tracking labels dilemma for small businesses. In my “unanswered questions” blogpost on August 14, I posed the following question: The Guidance states: “The question of what should be ascertainable is a different question than whether that specific information can be marked on the product or packaging.” [Emphasis added.] Thus, it appears that the CPSC will not permit ANY manufacturers to sell ANY children’s product for which the specified Section 103 information is not “ascertainable”. In other words, if a consumer calls up to inquire about the Section 103 information for any unit of a children’s product made on or after August 14, regardless of whether made by a small lot manufacturer, that information must be available – or less. Correct? Elsewhere in the Guidance, the CPSC advises that small lot manufacturers need not create a lot marking system if one does not currently exist. So, essentially, the rules require that co-hort information be “ascertainable” on items without lot markings. This is, for all practical purposes, impossible. An unmarked item is fungible with all other similar unmarked items. If small businesses are not required to mark by lot, then it will be impossible to distinguish products by lot. This is a massive problem for small businesses. It is not solvable as far as I can tell. The Guidance says on one hand that we do not need to mark by lot, and on the other hand, says we will be exposed to civil and criminal penalties if we cannot “ascertain” lot information. This is faulty “guidance” at a minimum. It is tantamount to requiring universal marking of products by lot – although the Guidance states the exact opposite. Please do not overlook the fact that Section 103 applies to every children’s product sold in this country without exception. It is a common misconception in the market that tracking labels are only required for items subject to the new lead limits or the phthalates ban. Thus, the scale of affected industries and product classes is incomprehensibly large. As I have testified and written extensively on the issues relating to tracking labels for businesses catering to low volume specialty markets, I will not highlight again the many reasons why this rule is impractical in the extreme. Please consider, however, a very practical business problem. Many specialty items are low-priced and have not been designed optimally for tracking labels. The Guidance recognized the seriousness of this issue for the bulk vending industry, but overlooked it for everyone else. Frankly, the practical issues for items that sell for $0.25 are virtually identical for items that sell for $10. In any event, “ascertaining” co-hort information on any children’s product without a lot marking is basically impossible (without changing every lot in some physical way, a manufacturing “solution” likely to quickly degrade into utter chaos or commercial disaster). It is therefore likely that most products sold into specialty markets will violate the Guidance unless they incorporate permanent lot markings. Members of the Alliance for Children’s Product Safety are facing a profound disaster as a consequence of this rule. Products are already being dropped for an inability to meet the “ascertainable” rule, particularly under threat of penalties under the CPSIA. No one working for a children’s product manufacturer will risk going to jail over co-hort information; they are much more likely to drop products to avoid the issue entirely. The economic damage will be deep and wide – and will contribute nothing to consumer safety. It is ironic that declining product availability as a result of implementation of Section 103 may lead to fewer recalls, thus giving the misimpression that children are safer. In fact, children will simply go to poorly-stocked schools and enjoy a lower standard of living. I call on the Commission to review and modify the Guidance to provide real and meaningful relief from the requirement on “ascertainability” for small businesses catering to specialty markets. Your prompt attention to this urgent issue will save jobs, products and industries. Thank you for your prompt consideration of this important matter. Sincerely, Richard Woldenberg Chairman Alliance for Children’s Product Safety cc: Chairman Inez Tenenbaum Commissioner Robert Adler Commissioner Thomas Moore Commissioner Nancy Nord Commissioner Anne Northrup

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CPSIA – Letter to CPSC re Tracking Labels Guidance 9-18-09

CPSIA – Washington Times Trashes CPSC’s "Resale Roundup"

THE WASHINGTON TIMES Thursday, September 3, 2009 EDITORIAL: From yard sales to jail yards When federal agents can swoop down on your personal garage sale and arrest you for selling the wrong old doll, this is no longer the land of the free. Yet just such a scenario is possible because of a campaign called Resale Roundup, which stems from last year’s jobs-destroying Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

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CPSIA – Washington Times Trashes CPSC’s "Resale Roundup"

CPSIA – Washington Times Editorial Bashes CPSIA

Friday, August 14, 2009 EDITORIAL: No more rhinestone cowboys THE WASHINGTON TIMES New regulations taking effect today make an awful new law even worse.

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CPSIA – Washington Times Editorial Bashes CPSIA