The U.S. Congress is expected to send consumer product safety reform legislation (H.R. 4040) to President George Bush next week. The White House has signaled support for the most sweeping product safety bill in years.
Aspects of the bill which SGMA feels will impact the sporting goods industry include a prohibition on sale of certain products containing specific phthalates on children’s toys, possibly including sporting goods; a restriction on children’s products containing lead; mandatory third-party testing for certain children’s products; the establishment of a public consumer product safety database containing information on possible “harm” associated with each product; increased penalties for violations for product safety regulations; and the enforcement of this legislation by a state attorney general.
