WASHINGTON, DC— Congressman Leonard Lance (NJ-07) today voted in favor of legislation that would strengthen current federal toy safety standards.  The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, of which Lance is a member, passed the measure by a voice vote.  The bill now moves to the full Energy and Commerce Committee for its consideration.

The “Enhancing Consumer Product Safety Commission Authority and Discretion Act, (ECADA),” seeks to update a 2008 federal toy safety law that was passed in a direct response to an influx of dangerous Chinese lead-based products causing injury to children.  Since enactment of the 2008 law, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has recognized flaws in the current legislation that Congress should fix – including providing greater flexibility and common sense in implementing the measure.

Updates to the current law would reduce regulatory burdens placed on small businesses where possible and would do so without harming consumers; enhance the CPSC’s ability to investigate complaints and to prioritize based on risk; and improve the utility and accuracy of information in the CPSC’s public database.

“Everyone agrees that Congress has a responsibility to ensure the toys children play with are safe,” said Lance.  “However, Congress also has a responsibility to make common-sense reforms and provide greater flexibility to further strengthen current safety standards while making them smarter and more cost-effective.”

Lance noted the measure would streamline the federal CPSC database that individuals use to report an instance of harm from a product.  The legislation would also ensure that persons filing a report must be directly involved with an instance to offer firsthand knowledge of the issue and detailed contact information would also be required so the CPSC could do a better following up job on claims and reports.  The law would be improved to allow police,firefighters and doctors to make a report of something they come across with or without the injured party’s permission.