CPSIA – Target Gets WHACKED for Old L-I-P Violations

Target Corporation was assessed a $600,000 penalty today for old Lead-in-Paint violations (2006-2007). Makes you wonder when these matters close, doesn’t it? There were three recalls, two of which were self-reported by Target based on its own internal auditing activities. There were no injuries, either. Target’s good faith didn’t matter at all. In fact, consider this quote from the Settlement Agreement: “Target’s quality assurance procedures were reasonable and satisfied the standard of care. Target’s knowledge when the subject products were imported and offered for sale was that they complied with the lead paint standard. Notwithstanding satisfactory pre-production test results, certain units were subsequently found to contain impermissible levels of lead paint.” Although the CPSC could not pin a “knowingly” violation on them (or impute knowledge, apparently), they had no trouble assessing blame: “[Target] failed to take adequate action to ensure that none [of the recalled items] would bear or contain lead-containing paint. . . .” That’s rather self-evident, isn’t it? The Target penalty is essentially a strict liability penalty, and was not (apparently) mitigated by Target’s good faith or good efforts. Failure to prevent a L-I-P violation is apparently now deemed a bad act whether or not there is credible evidence that the incident could have been avoided – which is a strict liability standard for L-I-P penalties. The CPSC does not want to announce a strict liability penalty policy so they persist in twisting words to create the impression that something “bad” took place. Yes, something bad happened – there were three undiscovered L-I-P violations but there is also considerable mitigating evidence of Target’s good faith efforts to control quality. This means that a defect occurred, which is a risk of any manufacturing business. Elimination of risk from the world around us is a fantasy for the likes of Henry Waxman but for the rest of us, risk is a permanent attribute of our reality. Target can clamp down on quality as much as it wants, but risk cannot eliminated, just controlled. They will fail again, and perhaps the CPSC will be waiting with their bill. The consequences of these high and arbitrary fines will be bad for small businesses. Let me explain. If you sell on a make-to-order basis to large retailers, then the economic consequence of tighter compliance rules is minimal and the law incentivizes the lowest risk behavior (testing for that order to ensure compliance). You can lay off the costs on the large runs for the make-to-order customers. Everything’s fine and prices don’t even go up noticeably. Everybody’s happy. Perhaps this is why you don’t hear Hasbro or Mattel screaming, what do they care? As for the rest of us, we live in a make-to-stock world. What does this mean? Companies in a make-to-stock model order new inventory to store in their warehouse for later sale to customers who haven’t made a forward commitment to buy. Make-to-order means (not surprisingly) that you produce inventory only when you make a sale. If Wal-Mart buys 50,000 units of your widget, you make 50,000 widgets in a single run and send them directly to Wal-Mart. Who needs a warehouse?! We make-to-stock folks need warehouses. Make-to-Stock is almost obviously for lower volume items. If you were selling higher volumes, you would make-to-order, right? Make-to-stock is also riskier, as we buy the inventory before we sell it (again, different than make-to-order). With lower product volumes to absorb the high cost of testing, make-to-stock inventory is at considerable economic risk under the CPSIA. That means all of us small businesses. It also threatens markets depending on make-to-stock products (like schools, specialty retail, special needs, and so on). When Target raises its quality and testing requirements into the stratosphere to avoid paying those annoying $600,000 penalties, it likely means that their door will be closed to small businesses that sell low volume items. Target’s array of children’s products will shrink and the ability of small businesses to grow by selling through major retailers will be limited to high volume, make-to-order items. Thus, your relationship with Target could be in one item per year, rather than the 25 you might get them to pick up for a planogram. This will make the mass market by-and-large the playground of large businesses. Small businesses will be left scraps in the specialty market. Unfortunately, the Target penalty will make even the specialty markets unfriendly for small businesses. First of all, the larger and more sophisticated outlets in specialty will know about Target and will raise their requirements up to a level making low volume items unprofitable to avoid the large and arbitrary fines. These outlets will become like mass market retailers in their practices and assortments. As for the rest of the market, small businesses will also have a difficult time selling there because with so much shrinkage in the available market, the cost per unit for the testing and other CPSIA costs will make it impossible to make money. Many small businesses will either have to shut down, commit to the mass market over the specialty business, or make products that avoid the CPSIA lead and phthalate restrictions (exit the children’s market). It’s unremittingly depressing. I wish I could tell you that I see a weakness in this argument. I invite my readers to dialogue on where the flaw is in my reasoning. Every time I read a press release from the CPSC, read one of their rules or find about one of their enforcement actions, I feel more and more certain in my views. Please set me straight.

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CPSIA – Target Gets WHACKED for Old L-I-P Violations

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 – Too Much of a Good Thing? Nah!

The CPSC’s notorious Resale Roundup was greeted with more “acclaim” by Fox News this week. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Be sure to check out the article (“New Government Policy Imposes Strict Standards on Garage Sales Nationwide”), the slideshow (“Ridiculous Recalls?”) and the video . Each is worth your time. For those who are not familiar with this novel new program, the CPSC is fanning out to save you from “evil” resellers who might be foisting off recalled items on you. This includes spying on local garage sales, visiting your local resale shop and poking around on eBay and Craigslist.com. The CPSC has apparently given up on education and individual responsibility as a way to protect against harm – instead, they are redoubling their effort to be the Cop On The Beat, like it or not. In this case, they have chosen to make up a fake crisis, the resale of recalled items, to justify becoming an active protector of the public safety. To get the flavor of this article and the basic problem, here are a few quotes: 1. “The [strict CPSIA] standards were originally interpreted to apply only to new products, but now the CPSC says they apply to used items as well. ‘Those who resell recalled children’s products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children’s lives at risk,’ said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. ‘Resale stores should make safety their business and check for recalled products and hazards to children.’” RW – Note that Ms. Tenenbaum justifies this massive incursion into people’s lives by the claim that recalled items “[put] children’s lives at risk”. While I concede SOME recalled items might in fact endanger children’s lives, please check out the slideshow for perspective on the mortal danger posed by many recalled items. Hmmm. A little hyperbole, perhaps? There are ways to deal with the limited problem of certain dangerous items circulating without resorting to the claim that there’s a Five Alarm Fire burning. 2. “CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson says the fines are intended for large companies with serious infractions. ‘CPSC is an agency that has used its penalty powers over its 30-year history against companies,’ Wolfson told FOXNews.com. ‘CPSC is not seeking to pursue penalties against individuals hosting a garage sale or yard sale, we are encouraging them to take the right steps to not resell recalled products.’ But FOX News Legal Analyst Bob Massi says the law makes no distinction for families and small resellers. . . . Don Mays, senior director of product safety planning at the publisher of Consumer Reports, says the hefty penalties are necessary to have an impact. ‘The former civil penalty limit of $1.87 million was too small to be an effective deterrent to large companies who flagrantly violated the law,’ Mays told FOXNews.com. ‘Mattel and its subsidiary Fisher-Price, for example, recently paid a $2.3 million penalty for importing about 2 million toys that violated the CPSC 30-year-old lead paint ban — that amounts to just over one dollar per toy.’” RW – CPSC says they won’t hit you with big penalties, but the law permits it. The Fox video shows that people are afraid. It’s hard to trust a regulatory agency out looking for “bad guys” in your garage with a BIG stick and no checks, balances or controls on how it will use it. Yes, they claim to be all sweetness and light – but what happens if they change their minds? The consumer groups are all for hefty fines, as Mr. Mays confirms, and nowadays, they seem to be passing notes to Congress and to the CPSC. So, is it any surprise that many people are quite alarmed? Side note: Don’t worry, the CPSC says they won’t be coming into your home (yet): “Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the agency, said it wouldn’t be dispatching bureaucratic storm troopers into private homes to see whether people were selling recalled products from their garages, yards or churches. ‘We’re not looking to come across as being heavy-handed,’ he said. ‘We want to make sure that everybody knows what the rules of engagement are to help spur greater compliance, so that enforcement becomes less of an issue. But we’re still going to enforce.’” Aha. Personally, I feel SO much better now. 3. “‘It is scary to think that there could be such hefty fines imposed on unsuspecting households,’ another garage sale organizer, Patti Lombardi, told FOXNews.com. ‘I think I speak for many people when I say that the government spends too much time interfering in the individual citizen’s personal life and this is almost bordering on the ridiculous … what if it opens up a Pandora’s box of litigation brought by the purchasers of items at garage sales?’” RW – Ms. Lombardi hits the nail on the head for the business community. We all KNOW that litigation will follow in the wake of this law. There is a reason why the trial bar-supported consumer groups are all so gung-ho on this law. Everything’s illegal now (check out your reporting requirements under Section 15(b) of the CPSIA – you have a generous 24 hours to report ANY violation of ANY term of ANY law, regulation or rule enforced by the CPSC (they don’t even publish a list, btw) – super!). Litigation by public attorney generals, State attorney generals and the Feds is expected by everyone. Given that it is inevitable that everyone will have violated something, and with the imputed knowledge standard of the CPSIA, probably deemed to have done so “intentionally”, the choice of when and who to sue will favor the government rather substantially. The law was written to terrorize – and mission accomplished, it has. 4. “‘If I’ve got a wirebound notebook, the lead content in that wire binding is now under scrutiny, even though the chance of ingesting lead in any amount from something like that is virtually non-existent, [TimetoPlayMag.com content director Chris Byrne] said. ‘It’s a level of political grandstanding to say ‘we’re taking care of everything,’ but the science clearly demonstrates that the transference is not really possible — I mean, a child who eats the wire binding from a notebook is going to have significantly worse health problems than lead.’” Perhaps you get the idea. I wonder if the CPSC and Congress will EVER get the idea.

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CPSIA – Too Much of a Good Thing? Nah!

CPSIA – Washington Times Bashes Waxman CPSIA Hearings

THE WASHINGTON TIMES (Sept, 10, 2009) EDITORIAL: Waxman stifles dissent The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold a sham of a hearing today on the deleterious effects of the misguided Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The hearing is a sham because Chairman Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat, has refused multiple requests for testimony from small-business owners, consumers or anybody other than government officials. Instead, the sole witness will be new Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Moore Tenenbaum, who started her job less than three months ago. When the legislation at issue is creating havoc among those being regulated, it’s hardly constructive to hear only from the regulator. And when the regulator barely has had time to find her bearings, the value of her testimony, unleavened by any other viewpoints, is diminished even further. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act sets extremely low limits on the lead content of any component of any product sold primarily for use by children, bans a common ingredient used to soften certain plastics even though multiple independent tests have concluded that the chemical is harmless, and makes it a criminal violation even for charities or garage-sale participants to resell any product ever recalled by its manufacturer. It has cost charities such as the Salvation Army dearly and has caused bookstores and libraries to pull treasured children’s classics off their shelves. As far back as March, staffers of the commission itself wrote to Rep. John D. Dingell, Michigan Democrat, urging multiple changes to the new law. Among the many changes they suggested are: first, to make the law not retroactive to products manufactured before the law was passed and, second, to allow the commission to issue common-sense exceptions to the law for certain products (mini all-terrain vehicles, for instance) clearly not likely to cause lead ingestion. The Handmade Toy Alliance wrote to Mr. Waxman on Sept. 4 asking for a broader hearing, saying its members “do not believe [Mrs. Tenenbaum] can represent the full scope of CPSIA’s impact on responsible American small business.” As far back as March 6, the two Republican leaders on the full committee and relevant subcommittee — Rep. Joe L. Barton of Texas and Rep. George Radanovich of California, respectively — wrote to Mr. Waxman asking for a meeting so the “committee can spend a morning listening for the first time to honest people who don’t belong to influential organizations and who can’t afford to hire lobbyists, experts or spokespeople.” On Sept. 8, the two congressmen wrote to the chairman again: “We are concerned, however, that a hearing presenting only the opinions of Chairman Tenenbaum, without a second panel of witnesses representing family-owned retailers, tribal stores, toymakers and other affected parties, is very unlikely to cover the surprising and distressing practical problems that have arisen in connection with the implementation of the new law.” Mr. Waxman never responded to that letter. “The Energy and Commerce Committee is aware of the letter and is taking the request under consideration,” a committee spokesman e-mailed The Washington Times yesterday. Somehow, we doubt an invitation to outside parties will be issued by the meeting’s 10 a.m. start. A follow-up hearing is warranted. As the old expression goes, the committee ought to “get the lead out” by holding that hearing soon.

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CPSIA – Washington Times Bashes Waxman CPSIA Hearings

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