TOYING WITH SAFETY

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is underfunded and understaffed and, according to a recent Washington Post article, too cozy with the industries it is meant to oversee. The result has been a string of recalls of toys and other products, costing companies millions of dollars and a drop in consumer confidence. Predictably, there are calls for stricter rules and testing. Before that can happen, the commission needs the resources necessary to ensure the safety of products sold in the United States.

The commission now has the same number of employees as it did in the 1970s. Since then, the volume of goods and services imported into the United States has multiplied by 27, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. China alone now accounts for 80 percent of the toys sold in the United States.

In recent months, millions of Chinese-made toys have been pulled from U.S. store shelves. Lead paint and small magnets were the most common reasons for the recalls.

In the wake of the recalls, U.S. companies have asked for more standards and testing.

While much of the testing can be done by or funded by toy makers – because they have much to lose financially by allowing tainted or defective products to be sold – the Consumer Product Safety Commission also needs to be strengthened so that it can provide necessary oversight.

A recent Washington Post investigation shows that the commission’s independence and ethical standards also need to be reviewed and strengthened. According to the newspaper, the current and former head of the commission took more than two dozen trips – to places such as Spain, New Orleans and Hilton Head, S.C. – paid for by industry groups.

The Toy Industry Association of America, for example, paid for the agency’s current acting chairman, Nancy Nord, to attend the American International Toy Fair in New York in 2006. A $110,000 trip to China in 2004 by former Chairman Hal Stratton was paid for by The American Fireworks Standards Laboratory. Since then the group has encouraged the commission to adopt its safety standards.

Such industry-paid travel would not be permissible at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Food and Drug Administration or Federal Communications Commission. It should not be at the Consumer Product Safety Commission either.

The close relationship between the commission and industry is reflected in the opposition from both to efforts in Congress to strengthen the agency and increase its funding. Ms. Nord says voluntary compliance is the best way to improve safety. That is a hollow argument after this year’s spate of recalls.

A bill that would more than double funding for the agency, increase its staff and increase penalties for safety violation is moving forward in the Senate. An amendment from Sen. Olympia Snowe would triple the number of commission staff that monitor foreign factories and imports. Rep. Tom Allen has introduced similar legislation in the House.

Sen. Susan Collins is looking at what changes can be made through rule changes rather than legislation to speed improvements.

Congress must move forward, despite the commission’s opposition, to get the agency the resources needed to fulfill its mandate of ensuring the safety of products bought by American consumers.