Consumer Product Safety Commission Must Do More to Protect the Health and Lives of Americans
July 25, 2017
MEDIA ADVISORY
Consumer Product Safety Commission Must Do More to Protect the Health and Lives of Americans
Public Citizen’s Consumer and Civil Justice Counsel to Testify at Commission Public Hearing
WHAT: Public Citizen Consumer and Civil Justice Counsel Remington A. Gregg will testify about how the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) can more effectively carry out its mission as the nation’s chief product safety agency. Gregg is testifying at a public hearing of the commission, which is being held to gather input on what the commission’s agenda and priorities should be for the next two years.
Gregg will applaud the CPSC for its commitment to using data more proactively to help the agency achieve its mission but will include that more must be done. He also will express Public Citizen’s strong support for the CPSC strengthening the consumer product safety database, SaferProducts.gov, a publicly accessible and searchable website that allows the public to search for information about products that may be a risk to them and their families.
Gregg also will say that the CPSC also should do more to increase transparency in its decisionmaking process by improving the way it discloses information to the public. The commission is hampered by an outdated, pro-industry section of the Consumer Product Safety Act which restrains the CPSC’s ability to share product safety hazards quickly with the public. Gregg will encourage the CPSC to urge Congress to eliminate that section, known as Section 6(b).
Until Congress eliminates Section 6(b), the CPSC should update its interpretation of the section to prioritize consumer safety above the interests of the industry. That would enable the agency to fulfill its mission of protecting the health and safety of Americans.
WHO: Remington A. Gregg, counsel for civil justice and consumer rights, Public Citizen
WHEN: 11:35 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, July 26
WHERE: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Md.