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Practice Tip: Congress Expected to Strengthen Consumer Product Safety

By Ali. A. Beydoun

With more than $2 trillion of imported products entering the United States every year, consumer product safety is receiving more attention than ever from the government, consumer protection groups, safety advocates, and the media. In the past year alone, tires, dog food, and toothpaste from China have all been recalled. Most troubling were recent toy recalls, including one that involved millions of dangerous toys distributed by Mattel. The challenges of ensuring the safety of consumer products, regardless of whether they are produced domestically or abroad, include the ever-present demand for new products, faster inventory turnover, and greater consumer consumption.

The integrity and safety of products, especially imports, is under scrutiny, and consumers are questioning their confidence in goods. The current Congress will almost certainly approve legislation that will significantly impact the recall process and method for ensuring product safety. In an effort to prepare for this, President Bush established the Interagency Working Group on Import Safety (“IWGIS”) by Executive Order on July 18, 2007. The group is chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, and includes officials from many other agencies such as the Department of Agriculture and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”). IWGIS is commissioned to review and assess current procedures directed at ensuring the safety of products exported to the United States; identify the methods by which U.S. importers may enhance the safety of imported products; and survey practices of federal, state, and local governmental agencies concerning import safety to highlight best practices and improve coordination among agencies.

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