reports of adverse events
3. Develop U.S. government–administered, third-party safety certification programs for all products.
4. Develop a product traceability program for country-of-origin labeling for both food and consumer products as well as for all components and ingredients.
5. Require that importers post a bond to ensure they have sufficient resources to recall their products should they prove dangerous or defective.
6. Give all agencies with enforcement authority the power to levy meaningful civil penalties for manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers who fail to comply with regulations, and criminal penalties for those who knowingly and repeatedly jeopardize public safety.
7. Authorize mandatory recall authority for all government agencies.
8. Require all government agencies to publicly disclose information pertaining to safety investigations and reports of adverse events.
She later added a comment on recall effectiveness:
Recall notices rarely reach the very people who most need it—parents and care- givers. There is no law requiring manufacturers to try to find purchasers of the product or to notify parents or day care centers if a product proves dangerous and must be recalled. Further, there is no requirement that manufacturers advertise a product recall in the same way they advertised the product in the first place—toys with lead paint and magnets, high chairs, cribs, strollers, infant swings, and carriers often continue to be used for months or years after they have been recalled. In an effort to improve recall effectiveness, consumer groups petitioned the CPSC, asking that the commission require simple registration cards on products intended for use by children. While not a panacea, registration cards are one way to facilitate recalls.
The president and CEO of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), S. Joe Bhatia, also spoke before the Senate Committee. ANSI is a private nonprofit organization that coordinates the development of voluntary standards to protect consumer safety in a wide range of industries; it collaborates internationally with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Bhatia testified,
Standards are important for everyone because they influence the design, safety, manufacturing, and marketing of many products worldwide. Standards are not only developed in response to injuries, hazard, or other identified safety risks, but more often in a proactive manner to prevent injuries from known hazards. . . .
