Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on Nov. 23 the following voluntary recalls:
Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on Nov. 23 the following voluntary recalls:
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is increasing the maximum amount of civil penalties it assesses for consumer product safety violations to account for inflation, it said (here). Effective Jan. 1, 2017, for violations of the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and the Flammable Fabrics Act, CPSC will assess a maximum of $110,000 for each violation, and $16,025,000 for any related series of violations, it said. CPSC adjusts its maximum penalty amount for inflation every five years, it said.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is ending its joint “alpha” pilot with CBP to test filing of its partner government agency (PGA) message set in ACE, it said (here). The pilot, which gave filers the option to either transmit PGA message set data elements individually or transmit a single unique identifier referencing a registry, was successful, it said. “Participants primarily chose to file data using the Product Registry and Reference PGA Message Set, although we anticipate that several participants will file using the Full PGA Message Set before the pilot concludes,” CPSC said. CPSC will now turn to reviewing lessons learned and developing its “beta” phase pilot. A CPSC official has said the “beta” pilot will open in 2017 to about 100 participants (see 1606090020). The “alpha” pilot will end on Dec. 31. After that date, filers will no longer be allowed to transmit CPSC data in ACE, and “CBP will undertake efforts to reject or prevent” such filing.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is proposing a new safety standard for portable generators. CPSC’s proposed rule (here) would set carbon monoxide emissions requirements and test procedures for portable generators. Compliance with the new safety standard would be required within one year of the publication date of the final rule for larger portable generators, and three years after the final rule is published for smaller portable generators. Comments on the proposal are due Feb. 6.
Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on Nov. 16 the following voluntary recalls:
The Consumer Product Safety Commission and CBP have stopped more than 8 million units of about 4,500 different types of toys and children’s products that violate safety standards over the past four years, CPSC said (here). Toy recalls have continued to decline from 172 in fiscal year 2008, including 19 for lead, to 24 in fiscal year 2016, with only one involving a lead violation, it said. CPSC and CBP stopped more than 10.5 million products at the border in fiscal year 2015, a 123 percent increase from the previous year, CPSC said in another recent press release (here). Screenings were also up 25 percent in FY 2015 from the previous year, and CPSC found 63 percent more shipments with violations, including 75 percent more shipments of children’s products with violations, it said. About 85 percent of the violative shipments came from China.
PetSmart has agreed to pay a $4.25 million civil penalty for failing to immediately report hazardous product defects in its imported fish bowls, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said (here). The company received at least 19 reports of the fish bowls cracking, breaking or shattering during use, causing injuries to consumers, but failed to notify CPSC of the defect, the commission said. PetSmart also failed to identify the correct amount and distribution dates of the fish bowls that posed a laceration hazard, causing CPSC to have to expand a 2014 recall covering 10,200 fish bowls to cover another 81,300 fish bowls that posed the same hazard in 2015. PetSmart has also agreed to maintain an “enhanced compliance program” and a system of internal controls and procedures, CPSC said.
Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on Nov. 10 the following voluntary recalls:
Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on Nov. 8 the following voluntary recalls: