More on the CPSC Reform Act we discussed last week. From CTV News:

President George W. Bush on Thursday signed consumer-safety legislation that bans lead from children’s toys, imposing the toughest standard in the world.

The new law prohibits lead, beyond minute levels, in products for children 12 or younger. Lead paint was a major factor in the recall of 45 million toys and children’s items last year, many from China.

Both houses of Congress approved the bill by overwhelming margins two weeks ago.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates there are about 28,000 deaths each year linked to unsafe products, including toys, in the United States. More than 33 million people were injured last year by consumer products.

The bill also bans a chemical called phthalates that is widely used to make plastic products softer and more flexible.

And the legislation bolsters the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which took the brunt of criticism last year over the massive recalls and the government’s failure to monitor toy imports before they reach store shelves.

Click on the above link for the full story.

More on the CPSC Reform Act we discussed last week. This from InjuryBoard.com:

Both the United States Senate and House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that provides for the reauthorization of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The bill includes many safety protections, including ATV (all-terrain vehicle) standards, whistleblower protection for employees of manufacturers and distributors, a ban on phthalates in children’s toys, and other mandatory toy standards. It also authorizes additional federal funding for the Commission to carry out investigations.

The American Association for Justice has been working on this legislation for the better part of a year. They worked to include language that clarifies requirements under such bills as the Consumer Product Safety Act and the Federal Hazardous Substance Act do not preempt causes of action under State or local common law, nor do they preempt State statutory law concerning damage claims. The language of the bill specifically states that the CPSC is to refrain from including any language regarding preemption in its statement of policy and executive branch orders. The legislation also states certain state laws, for example California’s Proposition 65, are not preempted. The bill is now being sent to the White House for the President’s approval, which he is expected to sign.

Click on the above link for more information.

The USA Today on the new act:

Congress has passed sweeping legislation to improve the safety of toys and other consumer products.

The bill — approved by the Senate Thursday night and the House of Representatives Tuesday — follows a rising tide of public concern over product safety, spurred by recalls of 45 million children’s toys and products last year and growing worry over chemicals in plastic. The measure, which passed with “veto-proof” majorities, now goes to President Bush, who has not threatened to reject it.

The bill virtually eliminates lead in children’s toys and bans six types of chemicals, called phthalates, that have hormone-like effects. Lead can cause both brain damage and behavioral problems in children. A number of animal studies and a few in humans have linked phthalates to early puberty in girls, genital defects and reduced testosterone production in boys and impaired sperm quality in men.

The bill requires that all toys be tested for dangerous chemicals before they’re sold — a big change over the current practice, in which untested toys are sold and recalled if necessary, says Rachel Weintraub of the Consumer Federation of America. Outside companies will perform the tests.

The law also boosts the budget of the Consumer Product Safety Commission from $80 million to $118 million in 2010 and $136 million five years later. The commission will be required to set up a website where consumers can both register complaints and read reports posted by others.

Click on the above link for more information. The act itself can be found here.

From SeattlePI.com:

New rules approved Thursday night by the U.S. Senate would dramatically reduce the amount of lead and phthalates (a chemical used to make plastics softer) allowed in children’s products. The bill already passed by the House now goes to President Bush…

Part of the deal with the new federal rules is a boost in the regulatory strength of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Washington Post characterized it as “the most significant expansion of the (CPSC) since it was created in 1973.”

The regulations require toy manufacturers, here and abroad, to have their toys independently tested for toxic chemicals and an online database would be created so consumers could find out about complaints or accidents involving toys, cribs and non-kid products. The new rules, assuming Bush approves of them, won’t go into affect soon enough to impact the toys for sale Christmas 2008.

For more information, click on the above link.

From a CPSC news release:

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that a manufacturer of athletic shoes and apparel has agreed to pay the government a $1,000,000 civil penalty (pdf). This penalty, which has been provisionally accepted, is the largest for a Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) violation and follows a recall announced by CPSC and Reebok of 300,000 bracelets.

The penalty settles allegations that Reebok International Ltd., of Canton, Mass., imported and distributed charm bracelets that contained toxic levels of lead. The charm bracelets were provided as free gifts with the purchase of various styles of children’s footwear. In March 2006, a 4-year-old boy from Minneapolis who swallowed the bracelet’s heart-shaped pendant died.

The FHSA bans toxic levels of accessible lead in toys and other children’s products. CPSC’s enforcement policy urges manufacturers of children’s metal jewelry to keep lead content below 0.06% by weight.

For more information see the full release.

It appears there’s a real possibility of that happening, according to the article Shoppers must do their homework amid rash of recalls:

In the CPSC’s fiscal year 2007 (October 2006 through September 2007), 61 toys were recalled. Fifty-two of them were made in China, and 19 of those were recalled for lead-paint violations. In the CPSC’s fiscal year 2008 — since Oct. 1 — an additional 25 toys have been recalled. All were made in China, and the majority contained lead paint. Wolfson said consumers should expect more toy recalls in November and December.

See the full article for more information.

USA Today on chemical product safety regulation in the U.S. and E.U.:

U.S. and European Union product safety officials are hammering out ways to work more closely on toy safety issues…

U.S. rules allow five times more lead and lead paint in toys than in Europe, says Helen Kearns, a spokeswoman for Kuneva. Kuneva is urging that the U.S. bring its product safety rules up to Europe’s often-higher standards — which she says would facilitate trade and improve safety. But there are hurdles.

Europe has banned some chemical phthalates in plastic toys, and there’s legislation pending in California that would do the same. Supporters of such bans say the chemical is linked to cancer and birth defects. The CPSC isn’t convinced a ban is needed. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has until Friday to sign or veto the measure.

The full article available from USA Today.

Very interesting article from Advertising Age. Here’s a snippet:

Their concern is that phthalates, a chemical found in some air fresheners, have been shown in some lab-animal studies to disrupt testosterone production and cause malformation of sex organs. Some studies of humans have linked exposure to the chemicals with adverse changes in the genitals of baby boys. The groups’ petition also said volatile organic compounds such as benzene, linked to cancer, can be found in some of the air fresheners, though it did not specify levels of that chemical in individual products.

While marketers challenged the validity of research by the NRDC, which tested 14 products for sale at Walgreens for phthalates, the drugstore chain has pulled three of its own private-label air fresheners off shelves of its 5,850 stores nationwide and initiated testing of other brands. The Walgreens brands had the highest levels of phthalates among the products tested.

“Even prior to the release of the report, the manufacturer of one of the private-label products already had been in the process of reformulating it,” a Walgreens spokeswoman said. “So in some sense, they were already aware of the concern, but we were not aware of the concern.”

For the full article see: Fear of Phthalates Spreads to $1B Air-Freshener Category

Article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Made in China (buyer beware). Penalties for non-compliance might be increasing in the United States:

Last week alone the list included glassware from Pier 1, with 21 reports of cracked or broken glass; reclining chairs blamed in eight injuries; car tires blamed in two deaths; and fish and shrimp that the government says could cause cancer.

These products, and many more, have at least one thing in common: All were imported, and most were made in China.

Regulators say some cases involved outright fraud.

The dog food and toothpaste were adulterated with ingredients designed to fool any testers. Melamine in the dog food gave false high protein readings, and the toothpaste substituted a cheaper ingredient that is similar to brake fluid.

“I think it’s going to be a wake up call,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., says of the lengthening list of recalls.

As for China, he says, it leads the world in food exports that are recalled.

“I don’t believe they are performing to acceptable 21st century standards for health and safety,” Durbin said. As chairman of a Senate appropriations subcommittee, Durbin is pushing regulatory agencies to ramp up fines for safety violations and add critically needed inspectors.

The full article here: Made in China (buyer beware).

Agcanada.com discusses pesticide labels and maximum residue limits and their impact on exporters/importers:

We all know what happened to the Canadian beef industry when BSE was discovered in Canada. Canadian grain producers could face the same consequences if they ignore their customer’s limitations on pesticide residues.

Most countries have set maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides on agricultural products and for unapproved genetically-modified seed. The MRL for malathion on canola seed in Japan is 0.5 parts per million (ppm), for example. As with BSE control measures, these may seem extreme. The health risks of having a sample of canola with one ppm instead of 0.5 ppm of malathion is minute, but 0.5 ppm is the allowable limit Japan has instituted and unless the exporter can provide canola within that MRL, Japan is not interested in purchasing.

The costs of exceeding the MRL for any agricultural product can be huge. First, the sale of the product is lost. Second, all costs of finding a new market or disposing of the product must be borne by the seller. Third, and most costly, future sales of the product are jeopardized. The world grain trade is extremely competitive and other countries are eager to gain a foothold in a new market should another country fail to meet the buyer’s requirements. The Japanese market is our number one export market for canola, importing about $450 million worth of canola a year. It is a market we cannot afford to lose.

This is not just scary talk. Chris Anderson, program manager for the Canola Council of Canada, says Japan has rejected 2 recent shipments because the canola exceeded an MRL. In 2003, a French shipment of canola to Japan was rejected because MRL testing revealed the presence of an unapproved insecticide. Japan refused to take the $6 million shipment and it cost the shipper another $2 million in demurrage, shipping, and handling fees to find an alternative market. French farmers have lost millions more because Japan no longer has the confidence that French canola will meet its standards. Australia has also suffered under Japan’s close scrutiny. Just last year, part of a cargo of Australian canola had levels of fenitrothion insecticide that exceeded Japanese limits and had to be destroyed. The cost to the Australian shippers amounted to $11 million, and all future canola shipments from Australia will be subject to increased testing.

Since “the customer is always right”, it is up to Canadian farmers to make sure the agricultural products we sell do not exceed MRLs of the importing country. It is virtually impossible for a farmer to know the MRL for all pesticides for every importing country. After all, the U.S. regularly tests imported grains for 396 different pesticides. The U.K. conducts tests on foods for 28,000 additives. The only way farmers can prevent accidentally exceeding a pesticide MRL is to strictly follow the pesticide label as per use, timing, and withdrawal period. Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency has tested all pesticides registered for use in Canada and has made sure that by following the label directions, pesticide residues will be below MRLs of importing nations.