Nancy Nord patronizes the press, Congress, parents, and consumers; dodges questions while rolling eyes
Nancy Nord, acting chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, spoke to the National Press Club today about the CPSC’s “challenging year.”
Nord spent a lot of time letting listeners know that it’s not the CPSC’s job to inspect imports. Congress hasn’t given them the proper authority! Corporations are responsible for their products! I mean retailers! Retailers are responsible! And you should see the mess that Congress has made out of the current product safety legislation! It’s not Nord’s fault, okay?!
Plus someone, it seems, has blown this whole toy safety standards thing way out of proportion:
– it reached “near hysteria levels,”
– politicians “jumped on the bandwagon,” and
– the hazard to children was “distorted.”
Nord called the media concern over lead poisoning “hoopla,” citing that there have been no reported deaths, injuries, or illnesses from ingesting lead.
She must have forgotten about four-year-old Jarnell Brown (but I’m sure his family hasn’t).
Even though it is not the CPSC’s responsibility to inspect imports, Nord announced several exciting initiatives: improved import surveillance, a new cargo tracking system, and increased CPSC authority. But not to inspect imports.
She’s right, of course — the CPSC isn’t responsible for the problems with toy safety in the United States. But I don’t think that’s what all the hoopla was about. We (press, Congress, parents, and consumers) were concerned that Nord didn’t want additional funding for the CPSC. And that the industries her agency regulates paid for her domestic and international travel. And that she might care a little too much about the how toy manufacturers will react to increased penalties for safety violations.
Maybe Nord should spend a little less time trying to explain away the agency’s PR problems.
She’s got some of her own.