Nancy Nord, the CPSC's acting chairman, looks forward—€”and back

Nancy Nord, the acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, gave a speech last week outlining her plans for the agency in the coming year.

We are glad to hear that she intends to beef up import surveillance, posting the first permanent full-time CPSC staffers at key points of entry to help U.S. Customs inspect and stop suspect shipments, and that she plans to create a new, early warning system of possible hazards, particularly for cribs, bassinets and play yards.

We are eager to learn the details of both programs.

But much of Nord’s speech before the National Press Club in Washington was spent discussing 2007, often dubbed "the year of the recall." Nord faulted the press for its "near-hysteria levels" of coverage. And politicians—who have been working on legislation to give the agency more funds and powers—did not escape her criticism either.

We don't agree with that characterization of hysteria or several other of Nord's statements.  Here are a few of the key points she made in her speech and in the question and answer period that followed—and our concerns about them:

"The fact is, consumer products are safer today than they have ever been,” Nord said in her prepared remarks. And toys, she later added  "are safer than they have ever been."

More than 25 million toys were recalled in 2007 because of safety problems. Need we say more? That large number of recalls in a single year certainly suggests there are a lot of unsafe toys on the market and in our homes.

NN: "The agency has always viewed recalls as a testament to effective enforcement."

We believe recalls show that there is a gaping hole in our government’s oversight system that allows unsafe products to slip into the marketplace.  Recalls are reactionary and don’t guarantee that unsafe toys and products will be removed from store shelves and consumer homes. Case in point: Last year’s recall of one million Simplicity and Graco branded cribs for a design flaw that led to at least two deaths and seven infant entrapments. A month after the highly publicized recall, only about 45,000 customers had requested a repair kit for the crib. That is a pathetic response rate that proves more needs to be done to prevent recalls in the first place.

NN: "Despite all the hoopla, we do not have a single reported death, injury or illness caused by lead from any of the recalled toys."

Perhaps not for 2007, but in 2006 a 4-year-old child died after swallowing a small piece of a Reebok charm bracelet that was later found to contain 99 percent lead. That bracelet was ultimately recalled.

But it's not deaths that are the most pervasive problem when it comes to lead in children's toys and jewelry. It's the long term effects on brain development resulting in learning and behavioral disorders. More than 300,000 one to five year-old children in the U.S. have elevated blood lead levels, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. But even blood lead levels below what the government considers elevated may cause irreversible damage. Children under six are particularly vulnerable. Because lead accumulates in the body, the only way to reduce the risk is to minimize exposure. 

NN: The CPSC has been  "one of the most transparent agencies in the federal government. ... We put things up on our Web site, we make things public, even meetings I have as the chairman are wide open for anyone to attend if they wish to do so."

The chairman's meetings are not the issue here. What is at issue is the agency's unprecedented secrecy protections, thanks to the law that created the CPSC 35 years ago. The agency cannot let the public know of other consumer complaints or any pending investigation of a possible serious safety hazard unless the manufacturer approves. And needless to say, manufacturers don't often approve.

These are not the same practices followed by such other safety watchdog agencies as the National Highway Safety Administration and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  Both agencies maintain searchable databases with important product safety information and  NHTSA makes information public on current investigations of possible defects.

We acknowledge that the CPSC has a dedicated, hard-working staff and realize the agency has been under funded. Still, consumers deserve more vigilance from the government as well as the companies that sell us products. Characterizing press coverage as at "near-hysteria" levels ignores the fact that the public has a legitimate and urgent concern that products, especially those for children, be as safe as possible. For this reason, we are asking Congress to pass strong legislation to ensure that manufacturers are governed by tough laws ensuring safer toys and other products, and that they face tough penalties when they fail to meet those standards.