Congress, Media Continue CPSC Attacks
Suddenly it's the agency's fault.
Writing in the Albany Times Union, Marianne Means calls the state of the Consumer Product Safety "a national embarrassment". The Washington Post stopped just short of editorializing its CPSC news although reporter Annys Shin was quick to paint a business v. consumer and House v. Senate battle scenario.
What is happening now is a national disgrace. After years of gutting federal consumer protection, this spring and summer saw big cases reach the public's consciousness. Suddenly, the average consumer wanted to know about consumer protection, which is something we consumer advocates have been trying to talk with them about for over a decade. Tax cuts, celebrities in jail for two hours at a time and American Idol took the place of paying attention to the products we use and consume.
One can imagine a U-shaped curve showing American interest in consumerism peaking with Ralph Nader's crusades decades ago, bottoming out during the "greed is good" phase and peaking again with word about shoddy products endangering us. CPSC Commissioner Nord gets that issue. In Nord's testimony to Congress (pdf link) weeks ago, she reminded Congress that the CPSC had not been reauthorized since 1990. In her words:
"Most of America's consumer products, not just toys, now come from overseas manufacturers. Much has changed in the marketplace, in technology and in communications since 1990. The result is that the inspection and enforcement tools at the agency's disposal with respect to imported products are not as strong as they need to be."
Nord also pointed out two very critical issues that most pundits seem to miss:
* Relative to the USDA and FDA's groups tasked with product safety, the CPSC has a minuscule amount of resources available.
* As Nord testified, the CPSC does not have ultimate authority on imports. By statute, Customs and Border Protection has the direct authority to deal with failures of import goods.
So while America pounds the wardrums for being exposed to potentially dangerous products in an all-you-can eat land of dollar stores and low cost providers trumping quality nearly every time, a balanced look at the issue is appropriate.
The CPSC failed because Congress, and by extension the American people, continually cut the agency's resources. This was followed by nearly a generation of not acknowledging the global marketplace, all of which stopped the CPSC from doing an effective job.
Why not work with the agency on a go-forward plan, a tactic we've now suggested three times, instead of starting with a new agency. Holding an entity accountable for circumstances beyond its control and mandate is a national embarrassment, exactly what one would expect when stories of what DVDs are on sale and the middle of the pro football season knock the tragic story of 3,000 people dead in Bangladesh off the front page of most newspapers.
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