ISPA lobbying against bill to reform CPSC
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, October 29, 2007
Alexandria, Va. — The International Sleep Products Assn. is mobilizing opposition to a proposed Senate bill that calls for changes to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. ISPA says the bill would be a "nightmare" for the bedding industry.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act, introduced by Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., is before the Senate Commerce Committee.
Dick Doyle, ISPA president and CEO, said the bill would do "considerable harm" to the bedding industry and other U.S. manufacturers. He said the CPSC Reform Act calls for "radical changes," including proposals to eliminate provisions that shield manufacturers from inconsistent state safety standards, to allow state attorneys general to sue manufacturers, even if they demonstrate compliance with federal fire-resistant mattress standards, and to require mattress manufacturers to obtain a third-party safety certification for mattresses of all sizes.
Doyle recently sent a letter to 900 mattress industry executives asking them to call their senators and share their views on the bill.
He said that if the bill is enacted in its present form, "it would undermine a great deal of the work that we successfully achieved in (the new federal FR mattress law), particularly as it relates to the CPSC's pre-emption of differing state standards. If Congress were to overturn the national standard approach that we achieved through CPSC, our industry could be faced with up to 51 differing and possibly conflicting mattress open- flame standards."
For national bedding producers, that would pose "a nightmare," Doyle said. "It would also have a detrimental impact on the safety of consumers because of the potential regulatory conflicts and overall confusion."
ISPA officials have been meeting with Senate Commerce Committee members and will continue those meetings, Doyle said.
