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 |
About the U.S. CPSC
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. Since the CPSC was established more than 50 years ago, it has worked to ensure the safety of consumer products, which has contributed to a decline in injuries associated with these products.
Federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission ordered recall or a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with the CPSC.
For lifesaving information:
- Visit CPSC.gov.
- Sign up to receive our email alerts.
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- Report a dangerous product or a product-related injury on www.SaferProducts.gov.
- Call CPSC’s Hotline at 800-638-2772 (TTY 800-638-8270).
- Contact a media specialist.
Please use the below phone number for all media requests.
Phone: (301) 504-7908
Spanish: (301) 504-7800