NAM President urges Congress to fix new product safety law.

Press Release Summary:



According to NAM President, John Engler, CPSCIA has overly broad reach, causing unintended harm to consumers and businesses by applying same criteria to wide range of products, regardless of their intended use. Law has triggered destruction of millions of safe products, costing businesses billions of dollars. Its decision to retroactively apply new lead standards and phthalates ban to inventory already sitting in stores and warehouses is causing massive disruptions.



Original Press Release:



NAM President Urges Congress to Fix New Product Safety Law



Engler Says Law is 'Causing Massive Disruptions to Industries Across the Board'

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 1, 2009 - National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President John Engler issued the following statement urging Congress to "fix the flaws" in the Consumer Product Safety Commission Improvement Act (CPSCIA) at a rally on Capitol Hill today with senators, members of Congress, industry representatives and scientists.

It is critical that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) focus on improving safety and protecting children. But the new law's overly-broad reach is causing unintended harm to consumers and businesses alike by applying the same criteria to a wide range of products, regardless of their intended use.

This misguided law has triggered the destruction of millions of safe products, costing businesses billions of dollars during one of the worst economic crises in U.S. history. For example, youth model All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) and dirt bikes are no longer available because of their lead content, even though they pose no risk of lead poisoning to riders. The CPSC staff agrees that banning these products will result in more children using adult-size ATVs as a substitute, which will pose far greater risk. Ball point pens, bicycles, safe apparel, older library books and other products will also be unnecessarily banned if Congress does not act.

By the CPSC's own account, implementation of the new law has overwhelmed the agency and jeopardized its ability to meet critical safety priorities. The law's unrealistic compliance deadlines made it impossible for the CPSC and industry to adequately prepare before the new law went into effect. Its unprecedented decision to retroactively apply the new lead standards and phthalates ban to inventory already sitting in stores and warehouses is causing massive disruptions to industries across the board, particularly small and medium-sized companies.

Today's rally underscores that Congress can no longer ignore the calls of thousands of small businesses and companies of all sizes to fix the flaws in the law.

The National Association of Manufacturers is the nation's largest industrial trade association, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Visit the NAM's web site at www.nam.org for more information about manufacturing and the economy.

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