Consumer Health and Safety Enforcement
In April 2010, CPSC signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that will allow inspectors to better target imported products. Under the memo, CPSC has access to CBP-kept automated safety assessments of import shipments. The coordination will allow both agencies to identify risks earlier, according to CPSC Chair Inez Tenenbaum.74 CPSC announced in July 2009 plans to open an office in China in order to establish a more forceful overseas presence.75 CPSC staff are working out of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The agency has also continued to meet with high-level Chinese regulators; Tenenbaum attended the third U.S.-China product safety summit in October 2009.76 The agency is trying to find new ways to reach consumers and the regulated community by expanding its use of social networking and building partnerships to help CPSC more effectively regulate more than 15,000 products. For example, in a Sept. 23 speech, Tenenbaum announced the creation of a new office of Education, Global Outreach, and Small Business Ombudsman. The office will “coordinate and provide education and outreach activities to domestic and international stakeholders, including manufacturers, retailers, resellers, small businesses, foreign governments, and consumers,” according to Tenenbaum.77 She gave no timeline for when the new office will be operational. While CPSC has enjoyed significant budget increases starting in FY 2008, resource constraints remain a concern. In FY 2010, Obama requested a $107 million appropriation for CPSC, only about $1.6 million more than FY 2009. Congress chose to grant the agency a greater increase, to $118.2 million. In FY 2011, Obama requested another paltry increase – only $400,000. The agency plans to add 46 new full-time employees in FY 2011, bringing the staffing level to 576.78 In FY 1976, CPSC employed 1,076 people, its historic high.79 Auto safety The enforcement agenda at NHTSA has been dominated by the recalls of millions of Toyota vehicles for sudden, unintended acceleration problems. In November 2009, Toyota recalled 3.8 million vehicles, saying the accelerator pedals in the vehicles could become trapped under floor mats. (The recall was later expanded to cover more than 5 million vehicles.) Then, in January 2010, the company recalled another 2.3 million vehicles because of an internal malfunction that could cause accelerator pedals to stick. In 74 Inez M. Tenenbaum, “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Signing With U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin, Washington, DC. - April 26, 2010,” U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, April 26, 2010, http://www.cpsc.gov/PR/tenenbaum04262010.html (accessed Oct. 28, 2010). 75 “U.S. to Monitor Product Safety in China,” Associated Press, July 30, 2010, http://www.cbsnews.com/ stories/2009/07/30/world/main5197405.shtml (accessed Oct. 28, 2010). 76 “3rd Biennial United States - China Consumer Product Safety Summit 2009 Wuxi, Shanghai, and Beijing China, October 21 – 26, 2009,” U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/intl/chinasummit. html (accessed Oct. 28, 2010). 77 Inez M. Tenenbaum, “Consumer Specialty Products Association Conference Keynote Address Bethesda, MD, September 23, 2010,” U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Sept. 23, 2010, http://www.cpsc.gov/pr/ tenenbaum09232010.html (accessed Oct. 28, 2010). 78 For budget and staffing information, see the Consumer Product Safety Commission section in “Appendix: Budget of the United States Government” for fiscal years 2010 and 2011. Final budget and staffing figures are published in volumes two years after the fiscal year. For example, final figures for FY 2009 are found in the FY 2011 budget. FY 2010 figures are estimates contained in the FY 2011 budget. Past volumes are available online at http://www. gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/browse.html. 79 For more information, see, “Product Safety Regulator Hobbled by Decades of Negligence,” OMB Watch, Feb. 5, 2008, http://www.ombwatch.org/node/3599 (accessed Sept. 2, 2010).
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