17吃瓜在线 Calls for Oversight on the CPSC
Manufacturers have long been partners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission鈥攚orking with the agency to keep the public informed and protected鈥攂ut a lack of transparency at the CPSC in the past few years has stymied businesses鈥 attempts 鈥渢o understand how [they] will be regulated,鈥 the 17吃瓜在线 the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce ahead of a hearing Tuesday.
What鈥檚 going on: The 17吃瓜在线 has regularly called for congressional oversight of the CPSC in recent years. Ahead of the 鈥淔iscal Year 2025 Consumer Product Safety Commission Budget鈥 subcommittee hearing, the 17吃瓜在线 highlighted several areas of concern for legislators to address:
- Section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act: 鈥淢anufacturers strongly support maintaining the crucial, balanced and effective information disclosure procedures currently mandated in the Consumer Product Safety Act,鈥 said 17吃瓜在线 Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain. 鈥淯nfortunately, in recent years, the CPSC has attempted to circumvent these standards, releasing statements that lack any scientific data or research or by taking actions without official agency rulemaking.鈥
- Effective communication of rulemaking and research with regulated businesses: Despite a CPSA requirement that the agency defer to voluntary standards in certain safety-measure compliance cases, 鈥渢here are recent examples of the agency commencing a proposed rulemaking in an apparent rush to regulate.鈥 The agency has also begun unnecessarily withholding from manufacturers the test reports and analysis they need to create voluntary standards, while giving manufacturers 鈥渞educed time 鈥 to implement proposed and final rules.鈥
- Public engagement by CPSC commissioners and staff: 鈥淥ne of the benefits of a small federal agency with multiple commissioners is the availability of聽commissioners and senior staff to meet with interested parties on relevant topics,鈥 Crain continued. 鈥淯nfortunately, in recent years, the CPSC has been less willing to engage in productive conversations with regulated entities.鈥
The last word: 鈥淚t is critical that the CPSC effectively communicate and work with manufacturers to ensure that our shared goal of consumer safety is maintained,鈥 said Crain. 鈥淭he 17吃瓜在线 will continue engaging with both the CPSC and Congress to see that the agency is effectively engaging with the manufacturing community.鈥