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Inez Moore Tenenbaum

Inez Moore Tenenbaum was nominated by President Barack Obama on June 9, 2009, to serve as the ninth Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Ms. Tenenbaum was confirmed by the Senate on June 19, 2009, and sworn into office on June 23, 2009, to a term that expired on November 30, 2013.

Former Chairman Tenenbaum transformed CPSC into one of the leading product safety agencies in the world. Starting in July 2009, Tenenbaum established a leadership philosophy aimed at making the agency more accessible and transparent; making education and advocacy a priority; and being firm, but fair, in enforcing safety laws and working to keep unsafe products out of the hands of consumers. In October 2010, Tenenbaum announced a new five-year Strategic Plan (2011-2016), which set forth a twenty-first century mission and vision for CPSC. The Strategic Plan has made CPSC more proactive, more focused on injury prevention, and moved the agency closer to being the recognized global leader in consumer product safety.

To achieve her regulatory philosophy and vision for the Strategic Plan, former Chairman Tenenbaum reestablished public Commission meetings to shine a light on the agency’s decision making processes; launched SaferProducts.gov, home to the publicly accessible consumer product safety incident database; and launched CPSC 2.0, the agency’s social media initiative. The Chairman also created a new Office of Education, Global Outreach, and Small Business Ombudsman; a Safe Sleep for Babies team; and a Minority Outreach team. Additionally, Tenenbaum expanded CPSC’s marketplace surveillance program, revamped and increased the staffing level of the Office of Import Surveillance, and strengthened the partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in order to detect and detain a greater number of potentially dangerous products before they reach consumers.

Former Chairman Tenenbaum travelled across the United States and to China, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Canada, Belgium, Australia, Brazil, and Mexico, to meet with regulators and take safety to the source of domestically and foreign made consumer products. In 2009 and 2011, she participated in Bilateral U.S.-China Safety Summits in Beijing and Washington, D.C., respectively, with her counterpart at the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). The CPSC-AQSIQ Summits have advanced the Chairman’s goal of encouraging Chinese manufacturers to use best manufacturing practices, adhere to U.S. safety standards, and build safety into product designs.
 

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