The large number of toy recalls last summer caused parents throughout America to be concerned about the safety of toys that were purchased right here in the U.S. We heard many heart-wrenching stories, such as that of a 5-year-old boy who needed emergency surgery last year to prevent two small magnets that he had swallowed from killing him. We heard other stories of children becoming ill from lead paint and other toxic chemicals in toys.
The pressing need for legislation to improve toy safety was dramatized last year through numerous problems with safety recalls of children’s toys. The recalls have involved some significant threats to life and health. Last November, for example, the CPSC recalled 200,000 units of imported jewelry for children – earrings, charms, and bracelets – that contained unsafe levels of lead. Earlier in 2007, the CPSC recalled millions of other hazardous toys.
The tragic trend continues. CPSC just last month recalled other items that violate lead-paint standards or that can burn, maim, poison, or strangle children.
It is clear that there are serious gaps in our system of safeguards that enabled these toys to make their way to the shelves of American stores in the first place. We must detect and counter threats to children before – not after – toys reach store shelves, so that they don’t end up in homes, schools, and day-care centers.
Fortunately, toy safety has made a giant leap forward with the Senate’s approval of bipartisan legislation to strengthen the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, The legislation, which I coauthored with Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR), Ted Stevens (R-AK), and Daniel Inouye (D-HI), takes a comprehensive and thoughtful approach to these threats. It essentially bans the use of lead in toys, authorizes increased staffing and funding for the CPSC, toughens penalties for safety violations, prohibits resale of recalled products, requires safety certification of children’s products, and mandates permanent identification markings on products – not just their packaging – to make safety recalls more effective.
The need for these safeguards and resources was evident in an investigation by my staff on the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Last August, I assigned investigators to examine the toy industry, import concerns, and the CPSC itself. The Committee investigators interviewed manufacturers’ representatives, retailers, consumer advocacy groups, and federal regulatory agencies, visited a testing lab, and talked with authorities at our ports.
Their findings confirmed that our current system has serious weaknesses, including that:
· CPSC is under-staffed and has inadequate resources and authorities for its mission;
· voluntary standards can be useful in quickly addressing safety issues, but lack the full force of law;
· children’s toys are not adequately tested for safety, and;
· the inability to effectively enforce safety standards at our ports limits our ability to stop hazardous imported products from entering the American marketplace.
Under current law, Customs and Border Protection has only limited authority to seize dangerous products and prevent them from entering the marketplace. Instead, the products are usually just turned away, giving unscrupulous importers an opportunity to try to slip their goods into the marketplace through another U.S. port.
With nearly three-quarters of toys sold in America being manufactured overseas, promoting toy safety cannot start or stop at our borders. Toys from abroad must meet American safety standards. While the Chinese government has closed some factories and signed a new agreement with the CPSC on the use of lead paint in toys, China has not yet demonstrated that it can adequately enforce this regime. Until then, we must take strong action to prevent Chinese products that violate our safety rules from entering America.
Our Committee’s investigation led me to several recommendations that were included in this reform bill.
Most important, one of my provisions would empower the federal inspectors to seize and destroy shipments of products that the CPSC believes pose a threat to consumers and violate safety standards. This closes the glaring loophole in current law and practice that allows unscrupulous importers to bring in their dangerous products through a different port. Another provision would place a CPSC official at the National Targeting Center to enable real-time information sharing on shipments of dangerous products.
Our bill has won Senate approval and is now headed to a House-Senate conference. This legislation will strengthen the Consumer Product Safety Commission to help prevent defective and dangerous products for children from reaching store shelves, and it must become law as soon as possible.