WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), a member of the House-Senate conference committee, today voted in favor of the conference report to H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which passed the Senate 89-3.  On Wednesday the bill passed the House by a vote of 424-1 and appears likely to be signed into law by the President.

“Congress has now passed legislation that will help further protect American consumers – especially children - from dangerous products by increasing enforcement, emphasizing research and development, and imposing stiffer penalties on offenders,” said Sen. Hutchison.

 “Every person and company along the supply chain has a responsibility to ensure the safety of consumer products.  Parents, however diligent, do not have the facilities to test and analyze the content of the many products which are aimed specifically at children.  That duty falls to the Consumer Products Safety Commission,” Sen. Hutchison said.

The CPSC’s regulatory jurisdiction was highlighted last fall when numerous consumer products, particularly children’s toys, were deemed unsafe and had to be recalled.  In September 2007 alone, approximately 1.3 million toys were recalled for violating lead paint standards.

The bill overhauls the CPSC and improves its ability to protect consumers from dangerous products by modernizing the agency’s authority to match the 21st century marketplace and by increasing the financial resources of the CPSC over the next 5 years.

The legislation provides for additional staff for the CPSC and requires a comprehensive report from the Commission to Congress within six months on resource needs, including detailed hiring and training plans.  Additionally, the bill provides employees of private sector firms with certain whistleblower protections and allows for increased civil fines against entities that violate consumer protection laws.  The final report also requires third-party testing of children’s products, provides limited authority for state attorneys general to initiate actions seeking injunctive relief for violations of certain provisions of the CPSA, reduces the level of permissible lead in children’s products, and requires the CPSC to establish a database of consumer product related incidents.

“I believe this measure will go a long way toward strengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission in its mission to prevent dangerous products, especially those targeted to children, from being offered for sale in the United States,” said Sen. Hutchison.

Additional provisions in the bill:

·         Tracking labels on certain merchandise

·         A ban on the sale of recalled merchandise and penalties against retailers who continue to willfully stock these products

·         An online product safety database, giving consumers real-time access to product safety information

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