Summary

In 1996, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) amended the federal safety standards for children's sleepwear to allow non-flame-resistant snug-fitting cotton garments. CPSC, children's sleepwear manufacturers, and retailers have cooperated to make point-of-sale information on sleepwear safety standards available to consumers. In shopping visits to 70 stores in 14 cities, GAO found that removable information labels were used in nearly three-quarters of various brand selections of snug-fitting garments. However, fewer than 16 percent of the stores displayed either consumer education brochures or signs about sleepwear safety requirements. Nearly two-thirds of the stores displayed other clothing, such as cotton long underwear and loose-fitting cotton T-shirts, on racks with sleepwear--a practice that has been shown to confuse consumers. Manufacturers and retailers said that they had not been more aggressive in offering consumer information because of uncertainty about the standards' future. They believed that spending more money to educate consumers about this product did not make good business sense if the standards that enable snug-fitting sleepwear to be marketed could be revised or revoked.

GAO noted that: (1) as a result of cooperative efforts among CPSC, children's sleepwear manufacturers, and retailers, progress has been made in making point-of-sale information on sleepwear safety standards available to consumers; (2) GAO found in the shopping sample that informational hangtags--the most prevalent form of consumer education material available--were used in about 73 percent of various brand selection of snug-fitting garments; (3) however, the full range of suggested point-of-sale practices has not been widely used; (4) fewer than 16 percent of the stores GAO visited displayed either consumer education brochures or signs about sleepwear safety requirements; (5) also, about 63 percent of the stores displayed other clothing, such as cotton long underwear and loose-fitting cotton T-shirts, on racks with sleepwear--a practice that has been shown to cause consumer confusion; (6) manufacturers and retailers told GAO that a primary reason that they had not been more aggressive in offering consumer information was the uncertain future of the standards; and (7) because the standards that enabled snug-fitting sleepwear to be marketed could be revised or revoked, the expenditure of additional resources on education efforts relative to this product did not make good business sense.