Small Businesses Not Using CPSC Small Batch Exception to Children's Product Testing, says Toy Assn
Small businesses are not taking advantage of the small batch manufacturer exception to children’s product testing, said Randall Hertzler, vice president-Handmade Toy Alliance, at a July 10 Consumer Product Safety Commission hearing on agency priorities for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. Although the measure can reduce costs for small businesses, it also requires that the names of companies that use the exception are published in a public registry. According to Hertzler, members of the Handmade Toy Association don’t want to be on a public list of companies that don’t test their products.
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The small batch exception was put in place by a series of 2011 amendments to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (see 11080230). Under the exception, small manufacturers are exempt from certain CPSC children’s protect safety testing rules. According to Hertzler, the 2011 law didn’t require a public registry. But when it implemented the exception, CPSC chose to create a publicly available database of users of the small batch exception that includes the name of the person and business using the exception, as well as the business location. The registry has put off potential beneficiaries. Members of the Handmade Toy Association don’t mind registering with CPSC, but they “but they don’t want to be on a public list of ‘these people don’t have to test their products,’” said Hertzler.
CPSC Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum called the revelation “really disappointing news.” The Handmade Toy Alliance was the driving force behind the provision of the 2011 law that established the program, she said, and the small batch exception was “designed to give the Handmade Toy Alliance a huge reduction in the burden of testing.” Tenenbaum questioned whether the public registry should really put off so many small businesses, because the list of companies that have registered for the small batch exception would probably be obtainable through a Freedom of Information Act request anyway.
Commissioner Robert Adler said he was also disappointed by the news, and encouraged Hertzler to push more Handmade Toy Alliance members to sign up. But he said he would not be in favor of removing the public registry provision altogether. “I would not personally be in favor of keeping a confidential closed list of people who have availed themselves of the small batch option,” Adler said. “I think we’re too open and transparent of an agency.”