On October, 27, 2005, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that several records relating to consumer product enforcement had been set at the Commission during FY 2005. In sum, during FY 2005 the Commission:

• participated in 397 recalls involving defective consumer products (including the highest annual total ever for products not covered by mandatory safety standards)
• imposed a record $8.8 million in civil penalties on companies failing to report defective consumer products to the Commission
• received 547 reports concerning potentially hazardous consumer products (an increase of nearly 100 reports over the previous fiscal year).

The increase in product reports was partly due to a new Retailer Reporting Model implemented by CPSC with Wal-Mart. Under the reporting model, Wal-Mart provides CPSC with weekly updates of customer complaints and other incidents involving product safety.

The increase in enforcement during FY 2005 indicates that CPSC continues to place a priority on enforcement as a means of safe-guarding consumers and improving industry compliance.

As a consequence, members of industry need to be diligent in ensuring their products are both safe, and in compliance with the applicable regulations and product standards. Further, companies need to be able to quickly identify and address issues involving potentially hazardous consumer products.

Read CPSC's Press Release on this topic

For more information, contact:

Georgia C. Ravitz
202-857-8939
ravitz.georgia@arentfox.com