Durbin Sends 6th Letter to Consumer Safety Commission on Unsafe Products

Letter

Durbin Sends 6th Letter to Consumer Safety Commission on Unsafe Products

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) acting Chairman, Nancy Nord, late yesterday, expressing concern over the slow recall process of 1 million cribs, following the death of an infant in 2005. This is Durbin's 6th letter to the Commission in the past 6 months regarding the CPSC's oversight of safety matters related to children. Durbin has also convened two Congressional hearings into the CPSC's actions on recalled and unsafe products.

The current letter highlights the "unacceptable" time lag between when incidents were reported to CPSC and when CPSC took action to protect consumers. Durbin asked the CPSC to produce a detailed timeline of events between the first reports of hazards in 2003 to their announcement last week of a major recall. He also asked that the CPSC explain whether a lack of resources or statutory authority played a role in delaying this recall.

"It is unacceptable that it takes months and even years for the CPSC to recall a product that has injured and killed children -- this recall took 4 years. We may never know how many innocent children and families were at risk during that time," Durbin said. "The Senate is working on giving this agency the resources and authorities they need, but there must be a change - why dose it take a year after an injury or fatality for this agency to respond with a recall to protect America's families?"

Two weeks ago, Durbin chaired a hearing on toy safety following months of recalls of Chinese manufactured toys. At the hearing, Durbin noted that since it's inception in 1973, the CPSC's staffing levels have decreased by almost 60 percent - from an all time high of 978 inspectors and full-time employees in 1980 to 401 today - the lowest level in history. Meanwhile the number of products over which the CPSC has jurisdiction is enormous - the 401 employees at the agency today are responsible for overseeing more than 15,000 types of consumer goods. Today, a single individual is responsible for testing all toys at the CPSC.

Earlier this summer, Durbin introduced the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, which addresses some of the resource and regulatory issues facing CPSC. Additionally, Durbin introduce the Children's Product Safety Act, which would require that all children's products undergo rigorous third-party testing and certification from independent laboratories.

Durbin is the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government; the panel with oversight over CPSC's budget and has been one of the leading Congressional advocate for reforming the commission. Durbin joined Senators Pryor and Inouye in cosponsoring the CPSC Reform Act, a comprehensive reform bill aimed at making the CPSC the type of watchdog agency that American consumers need.

A copy of the letter Durbin sent to the CPSC can be found below.

September 25, 2007

The Honorable Nancy Nord
Acting Chairman
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
4330 East West Highway
Bethesda, Maryland 20814

Dear Chairman Nord:

I am writing in response to a recent series of newspaper stories regarding the recall of several types of cribs manufactured by Simplicity, Inc. of Reading, Pennsylvania, that caused the deaths of at least three young children. According to the articles, there were significant hardware problems and flaws in the crib design.

Like the Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets recall process, the articles describe an inexcusable time lag between when incidents were reported to CPSC and when CPSC took action to protect the public. Between the first report of the product's hazard in July 2003 and the recall announcement last week, hundreds of thousands of these faulty, dangerous cribs were used by parents. Even after the first report of an infant's death in April 2005, it appears that the CPSC did little to investigate the hazard or take steps to protect the public.

It is inconceivable to me that the CPSC could have allowed this situation to occur. At several points in the process, the CPSC sent investigators to look into the deaths of these young children. Dozens of reports were submitted to the CPSC. In addition, families were pursuing legal action against the manufacturer of these products. The fact that it has taken more than four years from the date of the first incident report and more than two years since the first report of an infant's death to announce a recall of these products is alarming. It is unacceptable for the public to have to rely on journalists for this Commission to act in a timely fashion.

In order to better understand what transpired in this case, I ask that you provide me with a detailed timeline of events between 2003 and the present regarding the Simplicity cribs. In addition, I ask that you explain in detail how this could have occurred and what steps you plan to take in order to prevent a similar situation. Also, did the Commission's Section 6(b) requirements hinder its ability to notify the public of this danger? If so, would statutory language similar to the expedited information release provision in S. 1847 improve the Commission's ability to protect human health? Lastly, I ask that you explain whether a lack of resources or authorities played a role in this incident, and if so, what resources or authorities are needed to improve the CPSC's performance.

I ask that you provide me with this information no later than October 17, 2007. If you cannot meet this deadline, I ask that you immediately contact me with a detailed written explanation as to why you are unable to fulfill this request.

Sincerely,

Richard J Durbin
United States Senator

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