Waxman's CPSIA Amendment Could Address Publishers', Libraries' Concerns

Reprinted with permission of Publishers Weekly

By Karen Raugust -- Publishers Weekly, 3/18/2010 5:23:00 PM



An attempt to address some of the industry complaints about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act


Steps are being taken in Congress that could resolve many of publishers', resellers', and libraries' concerns regarding the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. On March 12, Representative Henry Waxman (D-California) released a draft amendment to the Act that addresses some of the complaints from a variety of industry groups. Of interest to publishers, booksellers and libraries, the proposed amendment would give the Consumer Product Safety Commission more leeway in excluding products that pose minimal risk to children, including most ink-on-paper and ink-on-board books. It also would provide relief to resellers, including vendors of used children's books and, potentially, libraries.


The draft document follows a January report from the CPSC to Congress in which the Commission outlined the problems it perceives with the Act. The report highlighted the concerns of publishers, libraries and resellers, among other constituencies.

"We believe the intention of this [draft amendment] is to fix our situation," says Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association's Washington Office, who is awaiting clarification from the CPSC on whether the section in the draft that provides relief to resellers would apply to libraries as well. "If it's not as rock-solid as we want, we'll suggest some clearer language."


The Commission long promised that it would issue guidance specifically addressing libraries, but came to the conclusion that the law as currently written doesn't allow them to do so. Sheketoff notes that if the proposed amendment does confirm that libraries can continue to lend older books, "we will aggressively campaign to get some co-sponsors and help it pass. Getting any legislation through now is difficult, but if we can get a bipartisan group of co-sponsors, it will be easier."


The CPSIA was enacted in August 2008 and, after a year's delay, went into effect in February 2010, despite several unanswered questions about how to comply with its provisions, especially with regard to testing. The Act's intent was to protect children age 15 and under from risks due to lead and phthalates, and was spurred by some large recalls of lead-containing toys. Although the CPSC has said it would not enforce the law for "ordinary" children's books printed after 1985, the publishing industry has fought to be exempted from the Act altogether (with the exception of toy-like novelty and book-plus formats).

CPSIA Enforcement Date Extended Again

Reprinted with permission of Publishers Weekly.


CPSIA Stay on Testing Extended Another Year


By Karen Raugust - Publishers Weekly


On December 17, the Consumer Product Safety Commission voted four to one—with Commissioner Robert Adler voting against—to extend the stay of enforcement on the independent lead testing and certification provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act for one more year. The provisions will go into effect on February 10, 2011. The extension will give publishers more time to adapt to the provisions.


“The extension of the stay was needed in order to give the agency more time to promulgate rules important to the continued implementation of the CPSIA and for the agency to educate our stakeholders on the requirements of those new rules,” CPSC chair Inez Tenenbaum wrote in a statement.


The Commission is still ironing out the testing protocols dictated by the Act, and needs to expand the list of independent laboratories authorized to do the testing, among other pending issues. While many children’s books printed after 1985 do not have to be tested, those featuring foils, laminates, spiral bindings and other components outside of paper and ink currently do, although the Association of American Publishers continues to lobby to have “ordinary” books exempted altogether. Toy-like novelty and book-plus titles also need to be tested. Although the Commission will not enforce the independent testing and certification rules until 2011, the products still must contain lead levels under the current 300-parts-per-million limit set forth by the Act.


“From our perspective, they did the right thing,” said Allan Adler, v-p for legal and government affairs at the AAP. “It shows that they’re listening, and that they’re looking for ways to make an otherwise rigid policy workable.”


The CPSC also voted to approve an interim testing policy that allows component part testing, something the industry has been hoping for, rather than testing of the final product. In other words, a publisher would be allowed to purchase an already tested and certified spiral binding or toy component to be attached to the book, rather than having to put the entire finished book through a costly testing process.


Meanwhile, on the legislative front, the Consolidated Appropriations Act that was signed into law by President Obama last week contained a Congressional directive to the CPSC that asked the Commission to write a report for Congress on the problems being encountered in implementing the CPSIA and offering suggestions for revisions. This signals that Congress may be willing to either amend the law or grant the Commission more discretion in interpreting it.


“We’ve been working almost without let-up on this for a full 13 months,” Adler noted. “It shows you the complexity of it. The Commission is also working very, very hard, and it still hasn’t resolved some of the fundamental issues about testing. But we’re encouraged. There’s still a lot to do, but the Commission seems to be willing to exercise what creativity it can to resolve the issues.”