CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
The CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
was established to protect the public against
unreasonable risks of injury from consumer
products; to assist consumers in evaluating the
comparative safety of consumer products; to
develop uniform safety standards for consumer
products and to minimize conflicting state and
local regulations; and to promote research and
investigation into the causes and prevention of
product-related deaths, illnesses, and injuries.
The commission is an independent federal regu-
latory agency, established by the act of October
27, 1972 (86 Stat. 1207). It makes information
available to the public through its Web site,
<http://www.cpsc.gov>.
The commission has primary responsibility
for establishing mandatory product-safety stan-
dards in order to reduce the unreasonable risk of
injury to consumers from consumer products. It
also has the authority to ban hazardous con-
sumer products. The Consumer Product Safety
Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq. [1972]) authorizes
the commission to conduct extensive research
on consumer product standards, to engage in
broad consumer, industry information, and
education programs, and to establish a compre-
hensive injury-information clearinghouse.
In addition to the authority created by the
act, the commission assumes responsibility for
the Flammable Fabrics Act (67 Stat. 111; 15
U.S.C. 1191), the Poison Prevention Packaging
Act (84 Stat. 1670), the Hazardous Substances
Act (74 Stat. 372; 15 U.S.C. 1261), and the act of
August 2, 1956 (70 Stat. 953; 15 U.S.C. 1211),
which prohibits the transportation of refrigera-
tors without door-safety devices. The act also
provides for petitioning of the commission by
any interested person, including consumers or
consumer organizations, to commence proceed-
ings for the issuance, amendment, or revocation
of a consumer product safety rule.
In 1999, the commission introduced a new
interactive section for children, on its web site.
Geared toward children between the ages of 8
and 12, it features games and puzzles that are
designed to test children’s knowledge of safety
and to teach them safety facts.
CROSS-REFERENCES
Consumer Protection.
