January 20, 2010

On January 15, 2010, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) sent to the U.S. Congress four consensus recommendations for improving certain provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).

The recommendations are intended to minimize administrative burdens on the CPSC and market disruptions caused by implementation of the CPSIA, while maintaining the safety and welfare of consumers.  The CPSC's recommendations are as follows: 

• Greater flexibility in granting exclusions from the Section 101(a) lead limits
• The granting of an exclusion for ordinary children’s books and other children’s paper-based printed materials
• Prospective, instead of retroactive, application of the 100 ppm lead limits
• Consideration of ways to address the concerns of low-volume manufacturers and ways to relieve unnecessary testing and certification burdens, especially on smaller and home-based businesses 

The CPSC's Report to Congress, which includes a CPSIA enforcement activity summary, the agency's recommendations for improvement of the statute, as well as links to individual commissioners' statements, can be found here.