Editorial: Gutting consumers’ safety

Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007 | 1:21 a.m.

This year's U.S. recalls of Chinese-made products - from lead-tainted toys and children's jewelry to propane grills, computer batteries and other items that pose potential hazards - have put a spotlight on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency charged with safeguarding American consumers.

A story by The New York Times last week shows that Bush administration budget and staffing cuts at the commission, the agency's lack of regulatory power and a philosophical shift that favors industry over consumer safety has left the agency largely unable to adequately monitor goods imported into the United States.

The commission, which Congress created in 1972, monitors about 15 million different products and has generally been regarded as a nuisance by manufacturers and industry groups.

Thirty years ago - when foreign imports were far lower - the commission had about 1,000 employees who performed surprise inspections and had the time and money to investigate injury reports, former agency employees told the Times.

But the Reagan administration cut the agency's staff by almost half, the Times notes, and the Bush administration has cut it by an additional 12.5 percent since 2002. Currently, the commission has only 420 employees to conduct product tests, investigate injuries and initiate inspections.

This staffing level has left the agency's field offices and America's ports virtually void of inspectors when imports from Asian countries, such as China, have flooded the U.S. consumer market. As an example, the ports of Los Angeles are assigned just one inspector from the commission - who works only two or three days each week - to inspect the 15 million containers that arrive in the ports each year.

And Bush administration appointments in the agency's key management levels are equally as grim.

Shortly after assuming office, President Bush appointed former New Mexico Attorney General Harold Stratton as head of the commission. In New Mexico, Stratton, a Republican conservative who campaigned for Bush, characterized consumer protection cases as "antibusiness and pro-government regulation," the Times reports.

The commission's director of compliance is a former lawyer for the all-terrain vehicle industry, who single-handedly struck down the agency's 2005 recommendation to ban sales of adult-size ATVs if they are to be used by children. In 2004, use of such vehicles by children resulted in 44,000 injuries - 150 of which were fatal.

But even with adequate staffing, the commission would be hard-pressed to ensure that America's products are safe because it lacks the regulatory power to force companies to comply. The Bush administration's philosophy is to encourage manufacturers to voluntarily comply with safety standards.

That is a joke. One former senior agency official told the Times that Chinese factory owners and officials have said "voluntary means we don't have to." About 20 percent of all goods sold in the United States come from China.

Mattel Inc., which issued its third recall last week of lead-tainted toys, has been fined $975,000 this year by the commission for failing to report potential defects in a timely manner. Such a fine hardly makes a dent in the budget of a company as large as Mattel, but the commission cannot impose anything higher than $2 million.

In effect, the Bush administration has systematically set up the commission to fail. Congress must reinvigorate this important agency by reinstating its resources, giving its regulations some teeth and making some hard inquiries about the decisions fostered by the Bush-appointed industry cronies, who for too long have been allowed to undermine the safety of American consumers.