House Holds Hearing To Discuss Proposed CPSIA Fix

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing under the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection to discuss the proposed Consumer Product Safety Enhancement Act of 2010 (CPSEA), which would address several issues that have been raised regarding implementation of Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

As proposed, the CPSEA would exempt certain products from the lead limits, exclude certain used products from the lead limit requirements to aid thrift stores, provide alternate testing requirements for small batch manufacturers. Read the briefing memo from House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman’s office here.

Witnesses at Thursday’s hearing included Steve Levy of Star Ride Kids on behalf of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, Rick Woldenberg of Learning Resources and Dan Marshall of the Handmade Toy Alliance (HTA).

“Last week’s hearing on the Consumer Product Safety Enhancement Act (CPSEA) was a good, and long overdue, exchange of views on the adverse impact of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA),” Levy stated. “It was clear from many members who attended that the scope of the CPSIA was overly broad. The case was made very strongly that the CPSIA needs to be amended–and soon.  Exactly what that amendment looks like, and the precise path it will follow to enactment, especially in this politically charged year, remains to be seen.”

The HTA has endorsed the CPSEA, according to Marshall. “We recognize that this legislation could offer significant relief to the small batch manufacturers, specialty retailers and importers that the HTA represents,” he said. “We’ve also asked for some specific inclusions to the report to further clarify the needs of our members. But, we also have to stress the need to have an amendment signed into law prior to the February 2011 lifting of the stay of enforcement.”

Read the proposed legislation here.