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Monday January 21, 2019
Actual Effects of Shutdown on CPSC Stakeholders Begin Dribbling OutConcrete examples of neglected or unfinished CPSC work due to the government shutdown have arisen.
The first occurred when Specialized January 9 - without the agency - annoured a recall of Roubaix, Ruby, Diverge, and Sirrus bicycles. The reason is incidents of steerer tube collars cracking due to corrosion. This risks lost control. The company is offering replacement collars. Australian authorities have issued the recall (PSL, 1/14/19), and Health Canada – which often coordinates recall notices with CPSC – announced January 15 (see chart in this issue).
Specialized wrote (bit.ly/2TQJ8w8), "We have reported the matter to [CPSC] and are working closely with them on a press release announcing the recall shortly." The usual advice to companies (in normal times) is to avoid announcing recalls without CPSC because a single announcement with the agency is most effective. However, if the shutdown continues, more companies will need to weigh the benefits of waiting against the risks of delaying announcements.
Another example came at an ASTM meeting on clothing storage units. A panel was awaiting a search by CPSC staff for products possibly missed in earlier reviews of NEISS data due to coding differences. The status of that work was unknown. See a related story in this issue for details.
However, not all standards committees are holding meetings. PSL has heard of panels in diverse product areas placing already-scheduled meetings into limbo contingent on the shutdown's end and waiting to schedule new ones.
As PSL reported earlier (1/7/19), voluntary standards panels are free to meet during a shutdown but must do so without CPSC. The agency's input includes not only data, but also feedback on whether safety provisions are likely to be deemed sufficient to avoid commission rulemakings.
Elsewhere, Plastics News reported (bit.ly/2RQ51OH) January 11 that CPSC staff could not attend the Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair so did not give a scheduled update on CPSC regulations. The article also reported that Alan Kaufman, Toy Association senior vice president, told the gathering that expected publication of updates to ASTM's F963 toy standard might be delayed pending CPSC input.
Finally, Government Executive January 17 included the comments of a furloughed CPSC engineer in a broader story (bit.ly/2AQAu9U) about federal workers. He said, "Our job is we protect consumers from unsafe consumer products like toys, cribs, fireworks, stuff like that. All those kinds of things are being allowed in the country now." |