Congress just passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Its intent is to provide substanially more resources to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and to address the growing number of consumer product recalls we're seeing today. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce weighed in on this through a letter it wrote to the Senate. It expressed concerns regarding the following: 1) The law provides each State independently with a certain amount of authority to enforce consumer product regulations as they see fit which could create an environment where manufacturers must comply with 50 different interpretations and enforcers of consumer product safety regulations. 2) The law creates ambiguity as to who is responsible for enforcement creating conflict between State and Federal enforcement. 3) The law allows employees to claim knowledge of product safety violations and the Chamber has concerns about the potential actions by disgruntled employees. 4) The law requires the Commission to maintain a public database of complaints that can't be verified or validated. Many of these provisions are clearly connected to the overall intent of the law to create an environment to protect consumers yet I believe the backlash to manufacturers will be costly and ultimately slow down the enforcement process. My favorite comment from the Chamber: "A consumer product does not suddenly become more or less safe depending on the state in which it is sold."
design by | XSIVE 1 STUDIOS™