The Consumer Product Safety Commission continues to implement the provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Enhancement Act. The following is a summary of the major developments from May 18 to June 12, 2009.
"The Consumer Product Safety Commission rejected the ballpoint pen's exemption application, but will not postpone the implementation of the regulation"
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) can exempt certain products or materials from the lead content restrictions of the Enhanced Consumer Product Safety Act, provided that the Commission believes that the use of such lead-containing products will not be absorbed by the human body or endanger public health and safety. In February, the Association of Writing Instrument Manufacturers wrote to the Commission requesting an exemption for ballpoint pen nibs. These nibs may contain between 0.1% and 5% lead, and the association claims that there are currently no viable alternatives, and it may take two years or longer to develop one.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) agreed that the chances of lead release from such products were low; however, given that the Enhanced Consumer Product Safety Act prohibits exemptions for any situation where lead may be absorbed by the human body, the CPSC recommended rejecting the writing instrument manufacturers' association's request, and the CPSC voted against the association's application in early June. The CPSC also refused to postpone the implementation of lead content limits for these products.
However, Thomas Moore, acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, pointed out that most ballpoint pens are not children's products and therefore are not subject to the lead content restrictions under the Enhanced Consumer Product Safety Act. Lead content restrictions only apply to ballpoint pens intended for children aged 12 or under; general-purpose ballpoint pens are not subject to lead content restrictions, regardless of whether such products are sold or used in schools.
"Moore replaces Nord as acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission"
Effective June 1, Moore replaced Nancy Nord as acting chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Moore will serve in this position until the Senate confirms a new chair; Nord will remain on the commission as a commissioner until her term expires in October 2012. President Obama has nominated Inez Moore Tenenbaum as chair of the CPSC and Robert S. Adler as a new commissioner. Furthermore, reports indicate that the president will nominate a Republican to fill the fifth and final commissioner position, bringing the commission to a final composition of three Democrats (Moore, Tenenbaum, and Adler) and two Republicans (Nord and the yet-to-be-nominated candidate). A five-commissioned CPSC is expected to be more efficient and better able to implement the Enhanced Consumer Product Safety Act.
"The Consumer Safety Commission has revised regulations regarding the labeling of detonators"
The Consumer Safety Commission recently issued a decision to supplement its current definition of "blasting cap" in its regulations under the Federal Hazardous Materials Act. Under the Federal Hazardous Materials Act, individual detonators or blasting caps are not required to be marked with the words "Keep out of the reach of children" if (1) each detonator or blasting cap is marked in large lettering with "DANGEROUS-BLASTING CAPS-EXPLOSIVE" or "DANGEROUS–DETONATOR-EXPLOSIVE"; and (2) the outer packaging and any accompanying printed materials have appropriate and complete warning labels.
– Reference source: Hong Kong Trade Development Council website, 2009-06-19
