NAM petitions to delay effective date of lead content limits.
Press Release Summary:
The NAM Consumer Product Safety Commission Coalition petitioned the CPSC to urge a delay in lead content limits of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act from February 10 to August 14, 2009. Rosario Palmieri, NAM VP, said this would give the CPSC time to develop exclusions for safe products that don't require duplicative or unnecessary testing. Palmieri also said the CPSC has failed to complete pending rulemaking or provide organizations with guidance on compliance.
Original Press Release:
NAM Calls for Delay in Effective Date for Lead Content Limits
NAM Says CPSC Needs Time To Complete Its Work
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 29, 2009 - The National Association of Manufacturers' (NAM) Consumer Product Safety Commission Coalition - including the retail community - petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) yesterday, urging a delay in the effective date of the lead content limits in Section 101 of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.
"Some real challenges need to be resolved before these new standards go into effect," said Rosario Palmieri, NAM vice president, infrastructure, legal and regulatory policy. "We are asking for a 185-day delay to give the CPSC adequate time to develop rulemakings for exclusions, so that safe products do not have to undergo costly duplicative or unnecessary testing. With so many businesses on the brink of financial ruin, now is not the time to add any unwarranted and costly burdens on job providers."
The law would require companies by February 10, 2009, to issue certificates that newly manufactured or imported products are in compliance with the new law's lead content requirements. The NAM/industry petition, which requests shifting the effective date to August 14, 2009, notes that "compliance with these new lead content requirements will be a practical impossibility for thousands of manufacturers, distributors and retailers" because the CPSC has failed to complete pending rulemaking or give needed guidance on compliance.
A copy of the coalition letter, signed by more than 65 industry associations, is available at nam.org/CPSCcoalitionletter.
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. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the NAM has 11 additional offices across the country. Visit the NAM's award-winning web site at www.nam.org for more information about manufacturing and the economy.
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