Congress to Beef Up Consumer Products Agency

Increased staffing and tougher penalties are in the cards.

By Martha Lynn Craver, Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter

October 25, 2007

Congress is racing to strengthen the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) following a series of high profile recalls this year that have shaken the public's confidence in the safety of consumer goods. A crowded legislative agenda will probably keep legislation from moving this year, but in early 2008, lawmakers will pass a comprehensive bill aimed at revitalizing the agency.

A significant increase in staffing and other resources is a good bet. The agency will grow to at least 500 employees within the next five years, the level when President Bush took office in 2001. When the CPSC began operating in 1974, it employed nearly 800. Over the years, that number has dropped to about 400. Also, funds will be provided to repair and upgrade the agency's research labs so they can do a better job of testing consumer products. The commission has a huge responsibility -- overseeing more than 15,000 consumer products, many of which are manufactured overseas.

Lawmakers are concerned that the agency's budget and staff have been cut at a time when imports have increased dramatically. And in the past few months, millions of toys from China were recalled because they contain lead paint and other dangerous materials. "The CPSC has been withering on the vine. This legislation provides it with fertilizer and water," says Alan Korn of the consumer group Safe Kids USA.

Also likely is a restoration of a full complement of commissioners. Although the agency is authorized to have five commissioners, it has been operating with only two since July 2006. Congress decided in 1992 to provide funding for no more than three commissioners. With only two sitting commissioners, the agency was hindered by a lack of a quorum until Congress voted temporary relief, which expires at the end of January. A five-member panel should bring more expertise and energy to the agency, says Korn.

The new law is likely to impose stiffer fines on manufacturers that breach consumer product safety laws. The maximum civil penalty for violations will be raised from $1.25 million to $10 million. A Senate bill cosponsored by Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Daniel Inouye (D-HI), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, would go even further, increasing the fines for a related series of violations to $100 million. However, that provision faces an uphill climb. The legislation also would make a knowing violation punishable by imprisonment of up to one year, and a knowing and willful violation punishable by imprisonment of up to five years.

In the House, John Dingell (D-MI), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is expected to produce his own comprehensive bill soon.

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