Conformity Magazine - October 2007 - (Page 6)

Editor’s Note Spitting in the Wind T he spike in concern over the safety of toys in the United States has focused on the problems with products produced in China, which we discussed in this space last month. But the focus on China serves as an effective foil for some real problems of our own creation here at home, and masks the apparent lack of political will to take seriously the safety of our nation’s consumers. A recent investigative article in the New York Times on the current state of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) lays bare the minimal extent of the effort by the federal government to monitor the safety of consumer products. Formed by an act of Congress in the early 1970s, the CPSC is charged with the task of protecting consumers against unsafe products. Today, the agency has oversight for an industry that sells $1.4 trillion of goods annually, and is responsible for ensuring the safety of a wide range of products, from toys and tools to televisions. But the CPSC’s total budget is a mere $62 million for the current fiscal year. Compare that with the $2 billion budget for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which, according to the Times report, spends twice the CPSC’s budget to monitor the safety of animal feed and drugs. Equally important to product safety enforcement is the size of the CPSC staff. In the late 1970s, the Commission had nearly 1000 employees, which meant greater oversight of compliance with voluntary consumer product safety standards. But the number of CPSC employees has steadily declined since then, with only 420 current employees, according to the Times report (down more than 12% since 2002). Perhaps most remarkably, routine oversight for the safety of all toys sold in the United States is in the hands a single employee, who conducts “drop tests” on toys behind the small space created by a closed door in the agency’s offices. Of course, fewer agency employees means reduced oversight efforts. According to the Times report, the agency is able to investigate only 10-15% of the reported injuries or deaths linked to allegedly defective consumer products. Finally, there’s the challenge of the CPSC’s mandate, which allows it to promulgate product safety standards only after voluntary industry standards have failed. For some manufacturers at home and abroad, “voluntary” 6 CONFORMITY OCTOBER 2007 means “not required,” giving them apparent license to ignore basic safety standards altogether. Nancy Nord, the agency’s acting chairperson, says that “the Commission is currently doing more to protect consumers than it has at any prior time in its history.” She proudly points to the record number of product recalls (471) during the past year, and increased fines for safety violations. Nord can also take credit for a proposal that would gradually increase the cap on civil penalties for violating the Commission’s regulations, from the current $1.8 million to $10 million, and for efforts to give inspectors authority to block unsafe products from entering the United States in the first place. But even Nord agrees that “even more could be done with greater resources.” No doubt, China and other developing countries have a long way to go to ensure the safety of products that their manufacturers produce, both for export and for use in their own countries. But let’s be sure that we pay attention to all the causes for the current safety problems in consumer goods before we rush to judgment. Bill von Achen Managing Editor

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Conformity Magazine - October 2007

Contents Editor’s Note Commission Proposes Changes for 57-64 GHz Spectrum Rules FCC Continues Actions Against Jamming Device Distributors Radio Operator Fined for Failing to Make Equipment Available for Inspection Commission Fines Unsolicited Fax Advertisers Firm Offering Quality Standards Training Also Fined Breaking New Ground with Lithium-Battery Generic Requirements for Use in Telecommunications Facilities ESD Open Forum EMC UK 2007 Conference Set Staying Abreast of U.S. E-Waste Legislation EU Commission Establishes RFID Expert Group Update on China's CCC Compliance Program System Level ESD Testing: The Waveforms An Alternative Approach to Surge Suppression Testing Equipment Buyer's Guide EU Scientific Committee Releases Updated Data on EMF Risks Updated Standards List For The EU’s EMC Directive Updated Standards List For The EU’s Directives on Measuring Instruments Call for Presentations for 2008 International ESD Workshop Announced CPSC Actions In The News IEC Standards Update Product Reviews UL Standards Update New Products From Our “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” Department Looking Back: Items from Past Issues of Conformity Upcoming Events Advertisers

Conformity Magazine - October 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.