Hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee - Child/Consumer Product Safety Panel II

Interview

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REP. SCHAKOWSKY: Thank you. Is it Ms. Belliveau? You mentioned testing prior to the sale of your products. Is that true of products for which you license your brand?

MS. BELLIVEAU: Yes, it is true.

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: A Chicago family lost their son to the Playskool Travel-Lite Crib in 1998, which was made by Kolcraft, but carrying your Hasbro brand Playskool. And six children have died in that model crib. Documents reveal that Hasbro did no testing and did not receive any testing reports from Kolcraft, and yet let their name go on the product. What are you doing differently now?

MS. BELLIVEAU: Vice Chairman Schakowsky, you are correct. Approximately 10 years ago we did have a situation where we licensed our brand to a play yard manufacturer. And unfortunately, there were deaths associated with that play yard. We have made changes since that -- those events, including not only tightening-up our internal licensing procedures in requiring testing on all licensed product, as well as having worked with the safety standard setting to address portable play yards. And the --

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: So all of your products now, that you license out, you do the same testing as those that you don't license out, that are in-house?

MS. BELLIVEAU: Our licensing -- our licensed products are subject to a testing program and protocol that is appropriate for those products. And Hasbro does require that.

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: The same as those that are for the ones that you directly manufacture?

MS. BELLIVEAU: Yeah. If it were, for example, a toy it would be subject to the same toy testing standards that Hasbro subjects its own toys to. If it is a different product, it will be subject to the testing protocols appropriate to that product.

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: I wanted to ask, Ms. Weintraub a question. We've been very concerned with Simplicity Cribs. And they were -- there were, what, a million recalls. And the CPSC decided to approve, and Simplicity decided to approve, a repair kit that immobilizes the drop-side of the crib.

So in other words, the repair kit goes out -- it's fairly complicated in how to actually install the repair, but it changes the product itself. So the people who may have a disability, and need a drop-side in order to reach the child in the crib, can't do that -- or someone with a bad back, or anybody, who bought it for that feature.

What do you think about the appropriateness of approving a fix that changes the design of the product, as opposed to what I would like -- and I sent a letter to Chairman Nord, a refund for those consumers who want a different product?

MS. WEINTRAUB: Well, first of all, not only is this ultimate repair filled with flaws, but it took a month -- at least a month between the time that the recall was announced, and for the remedy to actually be approved and available. So there's many, many problems associated with this product and this recall.

We agree with you that this product and this company has been subject to numerous recalls, many of which have been repairs, as opposed to a recall-and-refund. And we would very much support a refund, as opposed to a repair that could be complicated, time- consuming, and ultimately change an essential aspect of the product.

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: Yes. I hope we can maybe talk about dealing with this in our legislation.

I wanted to ask Dr. Best -- and I know Ms. Weintraub came up with this as well, the issue of the 7 (year-olds) -- or 6-year-olds to 12- year-olds, and not being included in the -- the importance of including them in the legislation. I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about the hazards for older children?

MS. BEST: Well -- turned it off -- older children, while we think of them as being at less risk than the 2-year-old who might be prone to run out into the street, still have very similar risks in terms of choking -- they're a little less likely to choke, but they still put things in their mouths, and still swallow coins, and still do some of the same behaviors that a younger child will do.

And one of the other aspects of the 6 (year-old) to 12-year-old age, is that those children may have younger siblings. And so most families try to group their children -- their child-bearing years into a fairly narrow gap. And so a toy that's designed primarily for a 10- year-old may end up in the hands of the 10-year-old's little sister. And that is one of the big risks. And that's the -- those are the kinds of children I see in the emergency room. They got a hold of their big brother's toy and had a great time, and then ended up with some untoward event.

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: Thank you very much.

I yield back.

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