Yesterday, the CPSC held an all day meeting with stakeholders to explain their plans for implementation of the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. While the room was dominated by manufacturers and their lawyers, most major consumer organizations also attended to hear the presentation. CPSC has an ambitious schedule of rulemaking and deadlines for new requirements, some as early as next week. Many questions remain, including what the timeline for new standards for juvenile products will be and what manufacturers can do with current inventory that violates the new law. CPSC acknowledged that under their current plans, consumers will have no way to distinguish products certified as safe by the manufacturer and those that aren't. KID calls on the CPSC, retailers and manufacturers to address this problem so consumers aren't unaware of the safety risks of the products they are buying.
Got a question about the new law and how it affects children's safety? You can ask CPSC through a new form on their website.
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2 comments:
consumers will have no way to distinguish products certified as safe by the manufacturer and those that aren't.
It's easy. All products made for children must come with a certificate of compliance. No law-abiding retailer would accept them if they didn't. No retailer who borrows money will accept them if they don't because lenders will not lend money on illegal contracts, which a contract to sell illegal goods would be. So if you shop in any reasonably sized venue (including online retailers like Etsy), they will require their manufacturers to provide the certificate of compliance.
Unfortunately, the burden of testing and documenting is so heavy that few manufacturers will survive in the next year.
Eric, the problem is that because manufacturers can legally sell products manufactured before the effective date alongside those that have to meet the new requirements, including the certification you mention, consumers have no way to know which was required to meet the new requirement and which wasn't.
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