Shutdown Has Eliminated CPSC Port Inspection Capacity, Says Senate Report
The ongoing government shutdown has forced Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to furlough at least 95 percent of its staff, including all port inspectors, bringing the total employees to less than 25 and depriving the agency of all capacity to screen imported products, said a report (here) prepared for an Oct. 11 Senate Committee on Science, Commerce and Transportation hearing . The hearing focused on broad impacts of the government shutdown. The CPSC is no longer able to publish reports of consumer damages and threats via www.saferproducts.gov, a website that receives roughly 100,000 visits and publishes over 1,000 reports each month, according to the report compiled by the majority staff under Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
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“CPSC has virtually no resources to monitor, sample, and conduct activities to enforce lead standards and ensure safety in consumer interactions with other dangerous products,” read the report. CPSC inspectors prevented over 1 million units of defective products from reaching consumers in the first half of fiscal year 2012, read the report.
The threat level to consumers could exacerbate as the shutdown continues, according to testimony delivered by Rachel Weintraub, senior counsel at the Consumer Federation of America (here). “None of the employees currently working are field investigators or port inspectors,” said Weintraub, noting the precise number of CPSC employees currently rests at 23, including the agencies five commissioners.