Welcome to CPSC’s podcast for Friday, March 21st, 2008. I’m Patty Davis.

This week, CPSC held a town hall meeting at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. CPSC’s Acting Chairman Nancy Nord met face to face with consumers to answer their questions about product safety. Joining me is CPSC’s Ed Kang who organized the event. Ed, why did CPSC choose the setting of a town hall meeting?

[Ed]: It’s not often consumers have an opportunity to meet face to face with the head of a major federal agency. This is a great opportunity – this was a great opportunity – for consumers to do just that, to have a dialogue with Nancy Nord, the Chairman of the CPSC.

[Patty]: Chairman Nord she took questions from consumers, what did they want to talk about with her?

[Ed]: The questions really were quite varied. I was impressed with the consumers that we met at the Mall. They were asking questions about lead, lead paint, toys, imports from China, lead testing kits and phthalates. So really the questions were all over the map.

[Patty]: How many consumers were there would you estimate?

[Ed]: I would say close to 100. We had people that came out expressly to meet the Chairman. But we also spoke with many consumers who were just on their day to day routine of shopping and were stopping by out of curiosity.

[Patty]: The consumers who attended really sound pretty informed about product safety.

[Ed]: Yes, I was very impressed with the consumers out in Minnesota. They seemed to really know their stuff about what this agency is doing and consumer products in general.

[Patty]: Acting Chairman Nord also announced at this event a big penalty involving a children’s product. Can you tell us about that?

[Ed]: If you recall two years ago, a young boy from Minnesota died after swallowing a lead charm that was included as a free gift with Reebok sneakers. Nancy Nord took the opportunity at the town hall meeting to announce a civil penalty of $1 million against Reebok for violation of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. That act, the FHSA, prohibits toxic levels of lead in children’s products and toys.

[Patty]: What is significant about this penalty?

[Ed]: It’s extremely significant. It sends a strong signal to companies that this agency will not tolerate violations of our standards. This is the largest civil penalty of its kind -- $1 million. It’s a record civil penalty for this agency.

[Patty]: Thanks Ed. There’s a good way for you to keep on top of consumer safety issues and recalls announced by CPSC. Visit our Web site, www.cpsc.gov where you’ll find safety and recall information. You can also sign up to receive CPSC’s recall announcements directly to your email inbox. That’s it for this week’s CPSC podcast. Thanks for listening.

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