Consumer Product Safety: 05perfrpt

200520052005PPP

ERFORMANCEERFORMANCEERFORMANCE

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CCOUNTABILITYCCOUNTABILITYCCOUNTABILITY

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EPORTEPORTEPORT

Saving Lives and Keeping Families Safe Saving Lives and Keeping Families Safe Saving Lives and Keeping Families Safe

November 2005

www.cpsc.gov1-800-638-CPSC

U. S. C

ONSUMER

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RODUCT

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AFETY

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OMMISSION

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ESSAGE FROM THE

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HAIRMAN

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protectingthe public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than15,000 types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Over the past 30 years, the CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products—such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and householdchemicals—contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products. In 2005, the menand women of the CPSC continued to make significant progress inaccomplishing its mission and objectives.It is my pleasure to present the 2005 Performance and AccountabilityReport. This report presents both financial and program performanceresults for 2005. The performance data contained in this report arecomplete and reliable. In addition to the specific annual performance goalachievements described in the report, I want to summarize important activities or initiatives undertaken by theCommission for product safety.

Program Highlights

In recent years there has been an increase in both the numbers of ATVs in use and the numbers of ATV-related deaths and injuries. In light of this trend, I directed the staff to conduct a thorough review of existing AllTerrain Vehicle (ATV) safety standards and to make recommendations to enhance ATV safety, including bothregulatory and non-regulatory options. The Commission recently issued an Advance Notice of ProposedRulemaking and invited public comment on the matter, and will continue to explore all options that couldreduce ATV-related deaths and injuries. I also directed the staff to undertake a thorough review of the status of portable generator safety. Portable gas generators have become popular and are often used when there is aloss of power, particularly during natural disasters. To promote the efficient reporting of potentially hazardousproducts, the CPSC worked with a major retailer to refine and implement a new reporting system that identifieshazards faster than before. The system has become a major new source of early warning information andallows for quicker identification of emerging hazards.We also continued our work with industry and consumers to address product hazards through the rulemakingprocess. In 2005, we worked on the development of two major regulations addressing mattress andupholstered furniture flammability. These two rules, if finalized, may save up to 800 lives annually and havethe potential to be the first two major rules (impact of over $100 million) ever issued by CPSC. It isunprecedented for CPSC to have two activities of this magnitude and complexity underway in the same year.We also set several noteworthy records in the area of compliance, including the largest number of voluntaryrecalls in the last 10 years, the largest overall civil penalties (amounting to $8.8 million) for failure to reportpossible product hazards, and the largest number of voluntary product hazard reports in a single year.In 2005, we continued our efforts to ensure that both domestic and foreign firms comply with our safety lawsand standards. The Office of International Programs and Intergovernmental Affairs (OIPIA) coordinates CPSCactivities with those in the international, federal, state and local arenas. With over two-thirds of our recallsinvolving imported products, the primary goal of OIPIA is to conduct activities and create strategies aimed atensuring greater import compliance with recognized American safety standards and safe design practices. Werecently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China, the largest source of consumer productsimported into the U.S and the source of nearly half of our product recalls. Following this effort, we organizedthe first Sino-American Consumer Product Safety Summit in Beijing, China.

Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act Reporting

In 2005, we reorganized in response to funding constraints reducing our total staffing from 471 to 446. Thereorganization was designed to minimize the impact on our program work by focusing on streamlining our administrative and field operations. This reorganization did not impede the way the Commission functions.

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