Give the CPSC Some Teeth

Posted on July 28, 2007
by Maureen Keene

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with overseeing the safety of more than 15,000 types of consumer products.  Although the number of products the agency is responsible for continues to grow each year, the funding and staffing have shrunk to less than 50% of what they were 30 years ago. 

One extremely important category that the CPSC covers is toys and other children’s products.  More than 80% of the toys sold in the U.S. today are made in China, a country with a dismal safety record.  Recent recalls of Thomas & Friends products (due to lead paint contamination) and Magnetix (due to deadly magnets that fall out of the components) have highlighted the dangers posed by toys manufactured in China.  Furthermore, the CPSC recall of both of these extremely popular brands has been confusing and incomplete, partly due to the shortcomings of the CPSC and partly because the manufacturers (RC2 for Thomas & Friends and Mega Brands for Magnetix) have obstructed the recall efforts.

The CPSC does not have the authority to order a mandatory recall of a dangerous toy.  They must “negotiate” recall terms with the manufacturer.  They also lack the power to mandate safety testing of products and they cannot order inspections of overseas manufacturing facilities.  Since the manufacture of many of our consumer products now takes place overseas, a big change compared with when the agency was created over 30 years ago, this is a critical flaw.

Please tell your representatives in Congress to overhaul the CPSC:

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