White House Proposes Legislation to Expand CPSC's Authority

NEWS from CPSC

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Office of Information and Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2000
Release # 00-108

CPSC Consumer Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: Ken Giles, (301) 504-7052

White House Proposes Legislation to Expand CPSC's Authority to Crack Down on Firms Not Reporting Dangerous Products

WASHINGTON, D.C. - First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton joined U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Ann Brown today to announce legislation to help expand CPSC's authority to crack down on firms that are not reporting defective products to the agency. CPSC conducts 200 to 300 product recalls each year, yet half of the most serious product hazards are discovered by CPSC investigators - not reported by the companies as required by law.

The following proposals were announced today at a White House news conference:

- Eliminate the $1.65 million cap on the maximum fine that CPSC can impose on a company that fails to report a serious product hazard.

- Increase the penalty for serious criminal violations of product safety laws from misdemeanors to felonies, and eliminate the requirement that the agency give prior notice to the company that is criminally violating the law.

- Give CPSC more authority over company remedies for product recalls.

CPSC also is launching partnerships with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Medical Women's Association, the American Nurses Association, the Emergency Nurses Association and other health care organizations to help find products that have the potential to cause death or serious injury, especially to children. This new product injury reporting network will provide even more sources of product injury data. CPSC currently collects information from a wide variety of sources, including hospital emergency rooms, fire investigators, news reports and coroners. The new network will expand its reach even further.

"Today, we're giving parents more confidence that the strollers, toys and other products they buy will help - not hurt - their children," said First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"The combination of this increased enforcement capability and higher civil and criminal penalties for not reporting would provide a strong deterrent against companies failing to notify CPSC about dangerous products," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown.

When companies ignore the law, dangerous products can stay on store shelves, putting consumers at risk. CPSC has to do its own detective work to find out about the problem products and seek recalls. Increasing CPSC's authority and expanding its product injury reporting network will mean that dangerous products are recalled faster. This will prevent injuries and save lives.

Penalties for Failure to Report 1996-2000

Over the past 5 years, CPSC has fined 21 firms for failing to report nearly 360 injuries and four deaths associated with hazardous products.

Firm	Penalty	Hazard	Injuries(before report)
2000
Black & Decker toasters	$575,000	fire	73 fires/2 injuries
Baby's Dream cribs	$200,000	fingertip amputations	9 amputations/crushed fingers
Hasbro infant carriers	$400,000	skull fracture	8, 7 were skull fractures
Lancaster Col. candles	$150,000	fires and burns	142 flare ups, 20 burns, 55 property damage
1999
Carter Bros. go-karts	$125,000	death	1 death, 1 skull fracture
Shimano bicycle cranks	$150,000	fractures and lacerations	630 failures, 22 including fractures and lacerations
Central Sprinkler fire sprinklers	$1.3 million paid into a trust	burns	17 fires, 4 injuries
1998
Binky Griptight pacifiers	$150,000	suffocation	no injuries
Century Products cribs and	$225,000	suffocation	1 death
strollers	$166,000	impact injury	29 injuries
COA Inc. cribs	$300,000	suffocation	no injuries
Safety First bed rails	$175,000	suffocation	25 injuries
1997
Brinkmann smokers and fryers	$175,000	lacerations, fire	1 death, many lesser injuries
CSA Inc. exercisers	$100,000	impact injury	52 incidents, many injuries
Hartman hair dryers	$60,000	fire	no injuries
Nutone stereos	$110,000	fire	12 fires, no injuries
Toro riding mowers	$250,000	impact injury	31 incidents, some serious injuries
1996
JBI Inc. playground equipment	$225,000	protruding hardware	70 injuries including 40 fractures
Singer Sewing juicers	$120,000	flying parts	19 incidents, 10 injuries
National Media juicers	$150,000	flying parts	9 injuries
Taito America arcade games wrists/arms	$50,000	metal pad	70 injured/fractured
Cosco toddler bed guardrails	$725,000	strangulation	25 entrapments, 1 death