U.S. Cabinet Working Group on Import Safety Releases Summary of Progress on Product-Safety Efforts

July 1, 2008 – Members of the President’s Cabinet-level interagency Working Group on Import Safety have released a new paper that chronicles a wide variety of initiatives underway to enhance the safety of imported goods.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Mike Leavitt, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Stephen Johnson and Acting Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Nancy Nord conducted a media briefing to discuss the report on Tuesday, July 1, 2008, at HHS.

President Bush established the Cabinet-level Interagency Working Group on Import Safety in July 2007, and appointed Secretary Leavitt as chairman.

The President charged the Working Group with conducting a comprehensive, Government-wide review to identify actions and appropriate steps to promote the safety of products imported into the United States.  In November 2007, the Working Group completed the Action Plan for Import Safety, a national strategy based on the principles of prevention, intervention and response.  It contains 14 broad recommendations and 50 specific short- and long-term action steps to better protect consumers and enhance the safety of the increasing volume of imports that are entering the United States.

For more information:

• ImportSafety.gov

Last revised: July 03, 2008