Acting Chairman Nancy Nord of the Consumer Product Safety Commission was the focus of a storm of criticism last year for her handling of problems that led Congress to overhaul safety products rules.Now Ms. Nord is leading a 420-person staff in trying to put into effect a multitude of new testing requirements, labeling rules and manufacturing standards -- many of them vague and some of them with deadlines as soon as next month. The agency says it will need added funding and staff to complete the job.
"It will be challenging even with the new resources, assuming Congress gives them to us," Ms. Nord said in an interview.
One goal is an online database to post injury reports and consumer complaints for public viewing. "My concern is, will we have the correct resources to put up something that's actually usable?" she said.
Congress has required a detailed plan for the database by February, and the Web site is supposed to be running 18 months later. But it took the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration a year longer than that to get a similar site running, said Ms. Nord. The highway agency's scope "is so much smaller" than the consumer-product commission's, she said.
The agency has scheduled a public meeting in Washington in September to discuss the legislation. Ms. Nord has her legal staff working on one-page summaries for each provision. She has also started reallocating staff to put greater emphasis on fulfilling the goals.
The next president will appoint his own chairman of the agency, but Ms. Nord will preside over laying the foundation for the bulk of the rules that take effect next year. She says she intends to stay at the agency even if she is replaced as chairman. Her term as a commissioner ends in 2012.
Advisers to retailers and manufacturers affected by the new rules governing toys, cribs and the other 15,000 products, and the placement of safety placards that the commission regulates say their clients have a lot of questions. What are retailers supposed to do with toys that are already on shelves when tougher lead restrictions take effect Feb. 10? Should manufacturers have a cutoff date for production of products that don't comply with the new standards? Will new tracking labels on children's products have to be a certain size or color? How will the agency decide which toys have parts containing lead that are inaccessible to children? (If toy makers can say a part is inaccessible, they can seek an exemption from the tougher limits on lead.)
"Legislation in itself doesn't create an integrated model for this to work effectively," said Tom Kozenski, a vice president of RedPrairie, which helps companies prepare for product recalls.
Toys "R" Us Inc. and Target Corp. say they started adjusting standards earlier this year. Toys "R" Us told manufacturers that items shipped starting March 1 of this year must be date-coded and meet stricter lead standards. The company still has questions about "things that are not clearly defined," a spokeswoman said.
When asked what retailers are supposed to do about toys on their shelves and lockout/tagout procedures that could violate the law when new standards take effect, Ms. Nord said the agency's job "is to enforce the law."
Congress increased the agency's 2008 budget by 27.5% from the previous year to $80 million, or $17 million more than the commission had requested. The commission asked for $80 million for the 2009 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, but that was before the legislation passed. To implement the plan, the House and Senate have different proposals to offer $15 million to $20 million more. Ms. Nord said she plans to submit a new fiscal 2009 plan that seeks more than the $20 million Senate proposal.
The other thing the commission is short on is time. Next month, it has to publish the requirements that toy testing laboratories must meet to qualify as third-party testers for a new lead-paint standard. Testing will have to begin 90 days after.
The agency must publish similar requirements in October for the testing of cribs and pacifiers. In November, it has to promulgate new rules for certain product warnings that must accompany print and Internet ads.
The agency's lack of resources were an issue well before Ms. Nord arrived as a commissioner in 2005. A slew of high-profile recalls last year -- many involving children's items -- put her and the commission in the spotlight.
During the uproar over toy recalls, members of Congress, state officials and consumer advocates said Ms. Nord minimized the seriousness of the recalls and didn't act swiftly enough to seek congressional help for improvements. "Everybody has bemoaned the fact that they [the agency] are underresourced, but quite frequently you wonder if they really care about their mission," said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Ms. Madigan said she wrote to Ms. Nord three times about last year's recall of tiny toy magnets that could stick to children's intestines if swallowed. The first letter was sent last August and Ms. Nord didn't personally respond until April, Ms. Madigan complained.
Ms. Nord said she had her staff contact Ms. Madigan's staff so the people who "know the issues" could talk. She said she sent Congress a letter over a year ago to start a dialogue about new tools the agency needed.
The commission has been subject to lots of "unwarranted criticism," said Ms. Nord, who added she is proud of the agency's accomplishments under "very trying" circumstances.
By: Melanie Trottman
August 29, 2008
