Congress pays attention to complaints about product safety law

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Remember the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act?

Yeah, that’s right, the law that was passed in late 2007 after lawmakers started panicking about all the tainted toys ending up in children’s hands. The law that earlier this year almost prevented thrift stores from selling children’s clothes, made L.A.’s apparel industry and handmade toy manufacturers wonder whether they could stay in business and forced auto dealers to pull children’s motorcycles from showrooms.

Manufacturers want the law reversed, but environmentalists point out that lead and other chemicals are dangerous and shouldn’t end up in kids’ toys or clothes.

Lawmakers looked at the repercussions of the law today in a hearing of the House Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight.

‘Many small businesses, including those that sell products that do not pose a health risk, are facing significant losses as they struggle to meet a host of new, and often confusing, regulations,’ said Subcommittee Chairman Jason Altmire.

Industry advocates have been railing against the law since November. They declared a National Bankruptcy Day on Feb. 10, the day that parts of the law went into effect, and erected a tombstone on their website that read ‘Childrens Products Murdered by Over Zealous Special Interest Groups.’ They wrote letters to President Obama, members of Congress and Nancy Nord, who chairs the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which enforces the act. They held rallies and even defied the act by selling products that hadn’t been tested for lead content.

Is the effort paying off?

So far, it’s unclear. While the Consumer Product Safety Commission has extended some compliance deadlines, notably for motorcycles and ATVs, some businesses already have been forced to close their doors. Bills introduced into Congress to amend the law have gone nowhere.

But at least someone is having listening, said Paul Nathanson, a lobbyist at Bracewell & Giuliani who represents some of the manufacturers. Congress previously had denied requests to hold a hearing on the issue.

‘The first thing we have to do is for Congress to admit there is a problem,’ he said. ‘The fact that there finally was a hearing makes it significant.’

— Alana Semuels