Senator Casey Presses for Answers on Toy Safety

As holiday season approaches, letter to CPSC seeks assurances and peace of mind for parents

November 15, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC- With the busy shopping holiday season upon us, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today wrote to Nancy Nord, Acting Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) asking her what the CPSC is doing to keep our children safe from hazardous toys. So far this year, there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of recalled toys.

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“The next two weeks will be the busiest shopping weeks of the year. It is imperative that parents and consumers are able to make informed decisions as they head to stores next week. Therefore, I would like to know what assurances you can give to parents that the toys their children will be receiving this holiday season will be safe,” Casey wrote.

In the letter, Senator Casey expressed his concerns about children’s safety and the ability of the CPSC to protect children from hazardous toys. He asked Chairman Nord for specific answers to the following questions:

1. Is the CPSC planning on increasing staff levels to respond promptly to complaints, inform and educate the public about dangerous products and enforce recall requirements? Specifically, is the CPSC going to have sufficient operators answering the CPSC’s hotline for complaints about toys during the holiday season? Is it increasing the number of investigators and testers to pursue complaints and reports of potentially dangerous products?

2. How is the CPSC planning to inform and remind parents in an easy to understand way about new and prior recalls and will there be a mass media outreach campaign to accomplish this? What other methods will be used to reach parents with this information?

3. Will the CPSC deploy more staff and other resources to inspect toys from countries that have a history of producing hazardous toys?

Senator Casey co-authored the Food and Product Responsibility Act of 2007 which will require importers, including toy importers, to carry the insurance necessary to carry out a recall and cover any liability arising from that product.

He is a cosponsor of the CPSC Reform Act of 2007 that will more than double the agency’s budget from $62.7 million to $141.7 million by 2015, increase staffing levels by nearly 20 percent, dramatically increase the cap on fines from $1.8 million to $100 million and give the CPSC greater authority to inspect and recall products. The bill also contains a third party testing requirement for children's products, bans lead in children’s jewelry and makes it illegal to knowingly sell a recalled product.

Full text of the letter is below.

Dear Chairman Nord,

I am writing as both a concerned parent and an elected official in response to the series of recent toy recalls including toys that have caused serious and sometimes life-threatening injuries to our children. As you are well aware, the holiday season is upon us. The next two weeks will be the busiest shopping weeks of the year. It is imperative that parents and consumers are able to make informed decisions as they head to stores next week. Therefore, I would like to know what assurances you can give to parents that the toys their children will be receiving this holiday season will be safe.

This year alone, there has been a reported 50 percent increase in the number of recalled toys - from 40 in 2006 to 61 in 2007. Recent recalls have included toys containing hazardous lead levels in their paint and tiny, but powerful, magnets that could cause intestinal injuries if ingested. Earlier this month, a recall was announced for 4.2 million sets of Aqua Dots craft kits that contained a form of gamma hydroxyl butyrate, more commonly known as the “date rape drug.”

Despite this increase in product recalls, staffing at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is reportedly at historically low levels. This combination of heightened need and limited agency resources raises serious concerns about CPSC’s ability to respond promptly and forcefully to complaints, adequately inform parents about product recalls in a timely manner and stringently enforce toy recalls so that parents can be sure that the toys on store shelves are in fact safe for their children. Recent reports that products subject to recall have been found on store shelves across the country, months after a recall was ordered only deepen parents’ anxiety this holiday season.

I share many parents’ serious concerns about the well-being of their children, the ability of CPSC to help protect children from dangerous toys and other products and that parents do not feel that they have sufficient information to avoid dangerous toys. Therefore, I would like the following questions to be answered in writing:

1)Is the CPSC planning on increasing staff levels to respond promptly to complaints, inform and educate the public about dangerous products and enforce recall requirements? Specifically, is the CPSC going to have sufficient operators answering the CPSC’s hotline for complaints about toys during the holiday season? Is it increasing the number of investigators and testers to pursue complaints and reports of potentially dangerous products?

2)How is the CPSC planning to inform and remind parents in an easy to understand way about new and prior recalls and will there be a mass media outreach campaign to accomplish this? What other methods will be used to reach parents with this information?

3) Will the CPSC deploy more staff and other resources to inspect toys from countries that have a history of producing hazardous toys?

Due to the urgency of this matter in light of the approaching holiday season, I ask that you respond in a timely manner.

Sincerely,

Robert P. Casey Jr.

United States Senator

Source: Senator Bob Casey