Changes on the horizon at CPSC

• New leadership

As of June 1st, Nancy Nord stepped down from her position as chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Fellow Commissioner Thomas Moore has taken over as Acting Chairman until the Senate confirms the new nominee. Nord said she plans to remain a commissioner until her term ends in 2012.

Nord's statement comes on the heels of President Obama's appointment of Inez Moore Tenenbaum, former South Carolina Education Superintendent, to chair the commission. The President nominated Robert Adler, a former lawyer for CPSC and advisor to the Obama transition team on commission matters, to be the fourth comissioner. The fifth commissioner, expected to be nominated by the end of the summer, will be a Republican, as CPSC's bylaws stipulate that no more than three comissioners can come from the same party. This will be the first time in fifteen years that the ruling board will be operating at full capacity. This in combination with the infusion of funds earmarked through the recently enacted (pdf) Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) signals a new beginning for the beleaguered safety agency.

•  CPSIA developments

- On May 12th, CPSC stayed the enforcement of lead content provisions as required by the new safety law for certain component parts pertaining to Youth ATVs, specifically battery terminals containing up to 100% lead. The stay remains in effect until May 1, 2011.

- CPSC released a new handbook (pdf) to assist product resellers and resale shops in complying with CPSIA.

- The agency voted to issue (pdf) an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) as part of a process towards issuing a rule, as required by CPSIA, requiring manufacturers of durable infant or toddler products to provide registration cards, maintain consumer contact information on file and permanently mark products with identifying information. Once the ANPR is issued, public comments will be solicited. 

- As part of CPSIA, CPSC adopted ASTM F963-07e1, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety, as a mandatory standard. On May 13th, the Commission voted unanimously (2-0) to accept the updated ASTM standard, F 963-08. The revisions range from increasing the age range for magnetic requirements to cover children up to 14 years, to strengthening standards for locking mechanisms. However, CPSC did not accept the change to remove the standard covering toy chests, so they will remain part of the mandatory standard. Review the complete list of revisions here (pdf).

You can stay up-to-date on the latest CPSIA developments here.

• New testing facility

CPSC reports that a lease has been signed on a new testing facility to be opened within the year. The spacious, modern facility, laboratory and equipment are supposed to enhance CPSC's ability to detect and respond to emerging product safety hazards.

Register for car seat recall alerts from NHTSA

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) is finally following CPSC in offering email alerts with the latest car seat recalls. Sign up here.

Question of the month: Recall remedies

Q. I have a recalled sleep environment (cribs, portable cribs, bassinets, etc.). What now?

A. Every recall notice issued by CPSC has a section with recall remedy insructions. Generally, a recall notice instructs the consumer to stop using the product immediately and to remove it from the vicinity of children. Then, it often lists contact information for the consumer to follow up with the company on returning or exchanging the item. Unfortunately, the uniformity ends there. The flood of sleep environment recalls -- 5.86 million units since 2007 -- provides many examples of the inconsistencies associated with recall remedies and the difficulties they create for consumers in complying with the instructions.

For example, with the recently recalled Eddie Bauer play yards (see sidebar), the recall notice offers consumers a $40 voucher towards a new Dorel product. KID is concerned that parents who bought this product are left without a real remedy since $40 won't cover the cost of replacing the item. In this case, the hazards posed by this product, whereby a child can roll into the corner of the rocking bassinet, possibly blocking the child's airway, is so great that the product should not be used any more. Under these circumstances, KID is advising parents to use their regular crib or switch to another bassinet.

Other problems associated with expired contact information crop up in remedy instructions for older products. As KID's executive director points out in a recent article on the state of crib safety, Simplicity Inc., the company responsible for 2.7 million of the recently recalled sleep environments, isn't even in business anymore--not that you'd know it from their website. Nothing about it indicates that the company is no longer in business and important links on the recall listings now route consumers to random websites.

Cribs are expensive and difficult for consumers to replace and KID's position is that companies should have to offer refunds or store credit for replacement of all recalled sleep environments. 

CPSIA directs CPSC to examine ways to maintain up-to-date information throughout the entire duration of the recall. Until that happens, KID recommends that if you're unable to comply with the recall remedy instructions, destroy the product so it is out of circulation. This is important for all products, but especially for cribs because these durable items tend to stay in circulation for years, being stored, passed on to relatives or turning up in second-hand stores.

KID updates

• Best Friend Award Night highlights

Kids In Danger thanks everyone who made the ninth annual Best Friend Award Night a terrific success!

Go here to view pictures.

This year, KID honored US Senator Mark Pryor and Congressman Bobby Rush for shaping a strong congressional response to unsafe products and their leadership in passing CPSIA. Congressman Bobby Rush addressed the group and spoke movingly of his compassion for victims of unsafe children's products and his commitment to improving children's product safety.  Senator Mark Pryor sent a video message as he was unable to attend.