the summer months

This hearing is necessary not because there is an issue with standards. It is necessary because some suppliers—particularly those who are exporting products to U.S. soil—are not complying with the rigorous standards and regulations that have been established to keep our citizens safe.

Products manufactured in accordance with U.S. toy safety standards provide greater protection to our children. Testing and inspection systems must be strengthened so that compliance with these standards can be verified before unsafe products get into this country. . . The system must be efficient, consistent, and sustainable. It must focus on improv- ing how products are evaluated and assessing who is conducting the evaluations. . . .

ANSI wants to help reassure consumers that the products they find on the shelves of their local retailer have been tested and found to be safe—regardless of country of origin. In order for the Institute to accomplish the objective:

• Standards and conformity assessment resources that are already in place must be used more efficiently;

• Government and industry need to work at a single purpose to identify gaps in the current systems of testing and inspection of products imported to the United States;

• New human and financial resources must be brought to bear to strengthen existing systems and fill any identified gaps.

Toy Industry Association

Carter Keithley, president and CEO of the Toy Industry Association—an industry asso- ciation representing companies that provides 85 percent of the toys sold in the United States—also testified. He said,

At the outset, I would like to note the U.S. has among the strictest, most com- prehensive toy safety systems in the world. U.S. toys have, for years, been ranked among the safest of all consumer products in the home. In fact, many nations around the world emulate the U.S. system and understand our toy safety standards to be the premier standards. This is not to say there is no room for improvement. It is our mission to continuously search for new ways to further strengthen our safety systems and standards. . . .

As we entered the summer months and up until as late as last week, toy recalls were in the headlines daily. These recent recalls clearly demonstrated our safety system needed to be strengthened. Although, as I stated, we have some of the best standards in the world, we were left wanting in assuring the application of the standards. This lack of assuring application of standards left our companies, the industry, and most importantly our children exposed. . . .