Congress Takes Action After Recall of 25 Million Unsafe Toys in 2007
S.
2045 (Pryor), a bill to reform the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) passed out of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and
Transportation Committee this afternoon. This bill, strongly backed by
CALPIRG, will give the CPSC the resources and manpower needed to
protect consumers from unsafe products that end up on store shelves.
“The
federal government spends twice as much money monitoring animal feed
and drugs as they spend monitoring practically every consumer product
on the market. With 25 million unsafe toys found in 2007 alone, clearly
we need to hold toy manufacturers accountable for making their products
safe by beefing up the enforcement authority of the Consumer Product
Safety Commission,” said Pedro Morillas, Legislative Advocate for
CALPIRG.
S. 2045 increases the CPSC’s annual budget from $62.7
million to $141.7 million by 2015, and significantly increases the
agency’s authority to get unsafe toys off of store shelves quickly. The
bill increases civil monetary penalties from $1.8 million to $100
million, requires independent third party testing of products, and
contains a bright line ban on lead paint in children’s toys.
The bill also allows state attorneys general to help enforce the law.
“We’re
incredulous that Acting Director of the CPSC Nancy Nord has opposed a
bill that gives her agency the resources and authority it needs to keep
consumers safe. The fact that she aligned herself with the toy
manufacturers position, rather than the consumers she’s supposed to
protect, makes it imperative that Congress allow state attorneys
general to enforce the law,” said Morillas.
Next the bill, S. 2045, goes to the Senate floor.
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