Residential Fires Kill More than 2,600 Annually, USFA Finds There was an annual average of 1,800 fatal residential building fires in the U.S. from 2006 to 2008, according to data made available August 19 by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA).
Canada Seeks Feedback on CCPSA Penalties Health Canada is accepting comments until November 17 on the penalty provisions of the in-the-works Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA).
EU RAPEX-China Report Shows >1,200 Reviews China’s AQSIQ has investigated 1,236 notifications out of 5,118 sent to it by the EU’s DG Sanco under the RAPEX-China system begun in 2006, according the EU’s 13th quarterly report on the system made available August 25.
ACCC Wants Feedback on Mandatory Reporting The Australian Compensation and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is seeking feedback until September 20 on draft guidelines on the mandatory reporting requirements that go into effect there January 1.
English-Only RAPEX Decried at GPSD Meeting Germany, France and Spain voiced displeasure that the EU has begun translating RAPEX report into only English, just-released minutes of a June EU meeting on the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) show.
EU CSN Eyes Divergent Risk Assessments The EU’s Consumer Safety Network (CSN) recently took up the issue of differing risk assessments for products by different nations, according to just-released minutes of the panel’s June meeting.
TÜV Points to Continued CE Mark Confusion TÜV Product Service August 26 said its recent research found poor understanding among U.K. consumers about the meaning of the CE mark.
NFPA Nixes Sprinklers with Antifreeze The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) August 18 said its Standards Council is urging an interim ban on sprinklers containing antifreeze in new buildings until it can address the issue further.
TRU Launches Product Safety Campaign Toys ‘R’ Us August 25 said it would begin an effort called the Product Safety Vigilance Program aimed at helping parents with product safety.
CPSC staff August 17 told the Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) that although the agency believes an in-the-works standard will improve covering safety, especially of Roman shades, there should be some additions.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) August 13 reported that formaldehyde levels in clothing textiles mostly are below the most stringent international standards.
NSF International and the national School Supply and Equipment Association (NSSEA) August 18 said they would join to create a safety standard for school gear.
Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) should get more study, according to an August 19 EU report, Promoting Healthy Environments with a Focus on the Impacts of Actions on Electromagnetic Fields.
The party-line disagreement among commissioners about the meaning of the CPSIA term, children’s product safety standard, continued the week of August 9 with agency votes to publish lab accreditation requirements for facilities doing third-party tests of youth ATVs, children’s wearing apparel, and youth mattress products.
September 3, 2010
GENERAL INTEREST
Ways to Survive a Product Recall ThomasNet Industrial News Room (New York, N.Y.) When a product requires a recall, it can be a major setback to a company's reputation, not to mention its profits.
Recalled Products Pose Ongoing Threat CBS News (New York, N.Y.) The federal government says there are thousands of dangerous consumer products sitting in homes all across America.
Home Deaths on the Rise Northern Advocate (Whangarei, New Zealand) Northlanders emerge as nation's most accident prone householders.
Federal and Local Police Crack Down On Counterfeit Products in Southern California LA Weekly (Los Angles, Calif.) Federal and local law enforcers arrested 30 suspects throughout the Southland in connection with millions of dollars worth of fake jewelry, leather goods, sunglasses, clothing, iPhones and other items that were confiscated, authorities announced at a press conference Tuesday.
Agency Unaware of Serious Accidents Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo, Japan) The Consumer Affairs Agency, which marks the first anniversary of its launch Wednesday, still has a long way to go in protecting consumer interests.
Bragg Officials: No Link to Connect Infant Deaths Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) Fort Bragg officials say they have found no direct links between 10 unexplained infant deaths that have occurred in base housing units the past few years.
Ft. Bragg Investigates Infant Deaths Los Angeles Times (Los Angles, Calif.) On April 15, 2009, Melissa Pollard's two-month-old son, Jay'Vair, stopped breathing and died inside military housing on this sprawling Army base.
CARBON MONOXIDE
Carbon Monoxide Poisonings Rise Sharply WPEC (Palm Beach, Fla.) The Palm Beach County Health Department says it has seen a dramatic spike in cases of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY
Should Cars Warn When There's a Child Inside on Hot Days? USA Today (McLean, Va.) Safety advocates are urging Congress and regulators to force carmakers to install warning systems that would prevent distracted parents from leaving children in cars, preventing heatstroke deaths.
FURNITURE
Columbus Man's Complaint Could Spark Bunk Bed Recall WBNS (Columbus, Ohio) A family said the bunk beds they recently purchased are dangerous and on Tuesday the Consumer Product Safety Commission said that they were investigating.
HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS & CLEANING PRODUCTS
Govt Backs Down on Child Safety Rules TVNZ (Wellington, New Zealand) A grocery sector lobbyist is welcoming a government back-down on packaging regulations designed to protect young children against household cleansers and laundry powders.
Top 10 Chinese Consumer Complaints in First Half People’s Daily (Beijing, China) China Consumer Association released its list of the top 10 Chinese consumer complaints handled by consumer associations nationwide in the first half of 2010.
Good Question: What's with All the Recalls? KXLY (Spokane, Wash.) Monday, the USDA announced its recalling nearly 10,000 pounds of ground beef in the midwest because of possible E. coli contamination.
The Threat of 'Recall Fatigue' Marketing Magazine (Toronto, Ontario) If you think you've seen far more product recalls in 2010 than in years past, you're not the only one.
The Counterfeit Conundrum: Protecting Company And Customer Manufacturing (Rockaway, N.J.) Counterfeiters have become increasingly sophisticated at imitating real products, from shoes and handbags to DVD’s, chainsaws, watches, airplane parts and drugs.
Bike Helmets: Not Just for Presidents Anymore San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, Calif.) Debra J . Saunders blogged today on the Obama family bicycle outing on Martha's Vineyard, saying the Commander in Chief looks "overprotected" in a bike helmet and chiding the president by saying his "snail's-pace" bicycle ride presents no risk.
CANDLES, LIGHTERS, MATCHES ETC.
14th State Bans Lighters that Mimic Toys UPI (New York, N.Y.) Cigarette lighters masquerading as toys are about to be banned in Massachusetts, as they already are in 13 other states, under a measure signed by the governor.
Spark of Danger Boston Globe (Boston, Mass.) They look like toy cars, cellphones, fire extinguishers, Magic Markers, even doll accessories.
JUVENILE PRODUCTS & CHILDCARE ITEMS
Consignment Company Stops Selling Drop-Side Cribs Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Fla.) Drop-side cribs, the subject of many recalls, won't be accepted or sold this year at the huge regional consignment sales run by Just Between Friends Franchise Systems Inc.
Harmonization sometimes is the golden ring of the product safety carousel. Round and round everyone goes, but the goal remains elusive. Indeed, our premium-sister service Product Safety Letter (PSL) has reported concern that the CPSIA – not to mention activity in the EU on the GPSD update, Canada on the in-the-works CCPSA, and Australia on the new Trade Practices Act – means that nations are losing chances for harmonization. As each nation sets its desires and requirements into law, flexibility for harmonization is lost. However, some trends suggest that the ring still is there, although shrunken … or perhaps broken into numerous smaller rings.
Citizens in big economies like the U.S., EU, and others view China as a product safety risk. For years, the growing consensus has been, “Fix China and we fix much of what’s wrong with product safety.” Indeed, problems with Chinese-made toys were one of the catalysts for the CPSIA, and those problems are the targets of some of the more challenging aspects of the law, including the looming testing and certification provisions. Elsewhere, the EU has a special sub-system of its RAPEX program called the RAPEX-China System in which the EU’s DG-Sanco and China’s AQSIQ communicate about steps taken to address problems raised in RAPEX reports involving Chinese-made products. However, China’s working class is becoming a middle class, meaning the cheap-labor attractiveness of outsourcing there is starting to wane.
What happens if complying with a regulation is possible but reliably testing for such compliance isn’t? That potentially could be a dilemma facing CPSC in its mandate to see if meeting a 100 parts per million (ppm) lead limit is technologically feasible. Two developments coincided last month that might point to such a problem.
A recent report from CPSC shows some mixed results related to the job satisfaction of agency staffers. Their CPSIA-caused workload and their related morale – with people regularly staying late and coming in on weekends and even federal holidays – has been alternatively the source of concern and praise from commissioners and higher-up agency managers over the past two years. The CPSIA is an aggressive law, both in what it tries to do and how fast it tries to do it. The number of open and final rulemakings over the past two years easily exceeds those CPSC issued for the preceding decade or longer. Couple that aggression with the agency's small size (even after CPSIA-related resource increases), and the reasons for the long-term heavy workload become obvious.
A debate ensued earlier this month among CPSC members about how far the commission should go in mandating third-party testing. The disagreement centered around a unique term used in the CPSIA: children’s product safety rule. What does that mean? Commissioners Anne Northup and Nancy Nord contended that it is a special kind of rule that targets children’s products – items primarily designed for children … things like cribs or toys. Not so, said Chairman Inez Tenenbaum and Commissioner Robert Adler.
Manufacturers, retailers, and importers have new responsibilities in the new era of product safety. Recent regulations and legislation around the globe have spelled out new product safety imperatives. There are some new ‘must haves.’ Companies should have identifiable and documented product safety processes. Companies must have appropriate testing and certification protocols. Companies need to develop more stringent traceability systems.
The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is moving forward on a project to increase information sharing on product safety issues. The effort by a newly formed working group will cover issues ranging from sharing recall notices among participating nations to creating a way to cooperate internationally on product tracking. The details of the plan are explained in the current edition of our premium sister publication, Product Safety Letter. However, in an index of OECD's recent report for the effort, the group gives a good overview of the information-sharing ability and restrictions of 17 jurisdictions in the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
Nearly 21 months following passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued its “15 month rule,” proposing new requirements for testing (including component testing) and labeling of consumer products. Given the enormity of the tasks CPSC was required to address under the CPSIA, and the impact of many of those efforts on devising a testing and certification scheme, even a mere 6 month delay may be viewed as a significant achievement. CPSC has given members of the public 75 days following publication of these proposals in the Federal Register to absorb and understand these significant proposals and to provide comments to CPSC for consideration before it issues final rules.
The departure May 28 of CPSC Executive Director Maruta Budetti and the pending departure of Chief of Staff Rebecca Senhauser mean the arrival of a new CPSCer and a new job for another.
Wherever your company is in today’s supply chain, you may have product liability issues to be aware of. Companies involved in food, drugs, consumer products, medical devices, autos, marine products, agriculture, and many other fields are finding themselves in the public spotlight on a daily basis. Often, the attention comes in the form of a crisis or a product recall.
