Toy Safety News

CoPIRG today commended leading Senators for coming to an agreement that should bring legislation strengthening product safety laws to the Senate floor soon. The full House has already acted.

“We look forward to working with the House and Senate to make sure that final CPSC reform legislation is as strong as possible and is completed as soon as possible, so parents and caregivers won’t have another holiday toy-buying nightmare,” said Kirpal Singh, Staff Attorney with CoPIRG. “By taking the best parts of the House and Senate bills, we can end up with a final law that protects the public from unnecessary risks of harm posed by untested, little regulated products that may contain toxic lead or other hazards.”

CoPIRG noted that any final law must:

• Grant the little CPSC the largest budget increase over the longest period of years possible, as the Senate bill would do.
• Guarantee that the definition of children’s products is as broad as possible, by using the House definition of products intended for children under 12.
• Ensures that state attorneys general have broad authority to protect the public and that state toxic chemical labeling laws are preserved, since nothing in the federal proposals establishes any federal toxic labeling requirements.
• Ensure that independent third party testing applies to all toys, including magnets, as the Senate bill provides, and to other children’s products, such as cribs, as the House bill will provide.

“We intend to work with Senate and House leaders to defeat pernicious weakening amendments we fully expect the National Association of Manufacturers to offer,” concluded Singh, “But today we have high hopes that the Congress can finish the job of guaranteeing safe toys this spring.”

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