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Congressional Criticism of CPSC Position on Phthalate Ban Could Lead to Earlier Enforcement

As SGMA has reported, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission General Counsel Cheryl Falvey ruled in an opinion letter dated November 17 that the new phthalate limits in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) passed by Congress in August will apply to products manufactured after the February 10, 2009 effective date but not to inventory manufactured prior to that date.  (On a separate matter, Falvey’s letter confirmed her earlier opinion that the CPSIA requires the agency to make an opposite determination regarding the statute’s lead provision, i.e., that, effective February 10, the lead limits will apply retroactively to all product in inventory.)

The CPSC’s decision not to make the phthalate provision retroactive has come under sharp attack.  The following week, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) wrote to the CPSC saying the decision violated the language of the CPSIA. 

Long a leading advocate of tighter restrictions on phthalates, Waxman’s intervention on the issue now assumes additional weight given his November 20 defeat of John Dingell (D-MI) for the chairmanship of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over consumer product safety issues.  Not surprisingly, Consumer Protection Subcommittee chairman Bobby Rush (D-IL) announced soon afterwards that his subcommittee would hold a hearing to examine the CPSC’s ruling on phthalate retroactivity and other CPSIA implementation issues.