[net-gold] CONSUMERS : DATABASES : UNITED STATES: GOVERNMENT: New Database Gives Consumers a Chance to Spot Unsafe Products Before They Buy
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 09:16:17 -0500 (EST)
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CONSUMERS :
DATABASES :
UNITED STATES: GOVERNMENT:
New Database Gives Consumers a Chance to Spot Unsafe Products
Before They Buy
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New Database Gives Consumers a Chance to Spot Unsafe Products
Before They Buy
Published: Saturday, March 05, 2011, 12:39 PM
By Sheryl Harris
The Plain Dealer
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If you're planning to celebrate National Consumer Protection Week, wear
armor.
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U.S. House Republicans are attacking the funding for a consumer product
safety database that will give parents, among others, a way to make sure
the toys their kids play with aren't potentially dangerous.
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Saferproducts.gov will allow the public to get a faster look at injuries
or potential dangers involving everyday products, like cribs, toys, power
tools.
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The Consumer Product Safety Commission already collects reports about
product-related dangers. But right now, consumers can't see those reports
unless they file a request under the Freedom of Information Act, a
cumbersome process that can take months.
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The new public database lets people see safety complaints within two weeks
after they are reported to the agency.
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Just as an example, Target last week recalled Circo Beaded Door Curtains.
The curtains are girly-girl room accessories made up of 72-inch long
strands of beads. In January 2009, right after the curtains first went on
sale, a 9-year-old girl nearly choked when she got tangled in the beaded
strands. A year later, a 6-year-old became tangled in the beads and wound
up with cuts on her neck. Last April, a child following her father through
a doorway was yanked from her feet when beaded strands swung back in her
father's wake and wrapped around her neck.
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snip
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Kansas congressman tries to limit consumer watchdog
By DAVID GOLDSTEIN
The Stars Washington correspondent
Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/05/2702023/
kansas-congressman-tries-to-limit.html
A shorter URL for the above link:
http://tinyurl.com/5she2d5
WASHINGTON | Uncle Sams consumer watchdog will make it easier for shoppers
to investigate product safety, despite a Kansas congressmans effort to
muzzle it.
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U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, a Republican freshman from Wichita, had hoped to
block the Consumer Product Safety Commission from launching a new online
database next Friday that will allow the public to view product safety
complaints.
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The federal government is going to get involved in running a database,
which I am conceptually not opposed to, but want to ensure that the
material it puts on it is helpful, Pompeo said.
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His amendment, which the House passed last month as part of its budget
bill, would put the project on hold through September, the end of the
current fiscal year, to give Congress a chance to make changes that both
he and the business community would prefer.
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They want, for example, the database to only accept complaints from the
actual consumer who experienced the harm from the product. As it stands,
consumer groups and lawyers also will be allowed to submit product
complaints.
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To delay the database, the Democratic-controlled Senate would have to
include Pompeos measure in whatever budget plan it adopts. But in the
high-stakes negotiations to avoid a government shutdown, the database is
not likely to become part of the debate.
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The Sunlight Foundation
http://www.sunlightfoundation.com
Posted: March 1, 2011 01:53 PM BIO
Koch lobbied on consumer protection database
recently defunded in the House
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sunlight-foundation/
koch-lobbied-on-consumer_b_829813.html
A shorter URL for the above link:
http://tinyurl.com/5w5egcx
In mid-February, freshman Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, whose top campaign
donor is Koch Industries, proposed a successful amendment in an
appropriations bill to defund a new public product safety database
recently soft-launched by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
Two years ago, when the bill was being debated, Koch lobbied on this
specific issue, citing the "consumer reporting database provision" in
legislation that passed that year.
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In addition, the congressman's chief of staff, Mark Chenoweth, worked
formerly both for Koch Industries and as chief legal counsel for Ann
Northup, a Republican CPSC commissioner who has opposed the new database.
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Koch Industries' employees and PAC contributed $79,500 to Pompeo for his
race last November--nearly five times as much as his next largest donor,
according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
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snip
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The database, which has been controversial from the start, is designed to
allow anybody to publicly report a safety complaint with toys or other
products. Congress included the database as part of the 2008 Consumer
Product Safety Improvement Act after a public uproar following the recall
of millions of lead-contaminated popular toys imported from China. The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration operates a similar
searchable database where consumers can report safety problems with cars
or infant car seats.
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Publicly Accessible Product Safety Database Hits House Roadblock
By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post
Sunday, February 27, 2011; 8:27 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
content/article/2011/02/27/AR2011022702967.html
A shorter URL for the above link:
http://tinyurl.com/4weotlo
As part of the spending bill that passed the House on Feb. 19, Rep. Mike
Pompeo (R-Kan.) won support for a measure to withhold money to implement
the system, which is set to launch March 11. The database, which was
welcomed by consumer advocates, would make public thousands of complaints
received by the Consumer Product Safety Commission each year about safety
problems with products, from table lamps to baby strollers.
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Pompeo, backed by groups representing manufacturers, said the database
would be filled with fictitious or inaccurate claims and place new
financial burdens on U.S. businesses.
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"This will drive jobs overseas," Pompeo said during floor debate on his
amendment. "It will increase the cost for manufacturers and consumers."
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While Congress continues to negotiate over a budget plan, consumer
advocates are scrambling to save the new system.
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"There's a lot of support for the database, but we don't know how the
dynamic is ultimately going to play out," said Rachel Weintraub, director
of product safety and senior counsel for Consumer Federation of America.
"This is really a last-ditch effort by manufacturers to hold on to this
great situation they have right now, where information is not getting out
to the public."
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The database, created at a cost of about $3 million, could revolutionize
the way people make buying decisions, consumer advocates say.
The complete articles may be read at the URLs provided for each.
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