I commend Congress for passing and the President for signing into law today, H.R. 2715. The bill was crafted in a spirit of bipartisanship and provides relief to certain business concerns, while keeping in place essential safeguards for children that CPSC has established in recent years.
H.R. 2715 also responds to the call of all five CPSC Commissioners to not make the lower total lead limit for children's products retroactive for retailers and resellers. Starting this Sunday, all children's products must be made with less than 100 parts per million of total lead content, which is one of the lowest limits in the world. Congress approved a reasonable and fair approach by allowing retailers and resellers to continue to sell products made before August 14, so long as they contain less than 300 parts per million of lead.
When I first took over the reins of CPSC in July 2009, I said that I would be a firm, but fair regulator. In keeping with this approach, I called for greater flexibility in implementing the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). My guiding principle has been that any changes to the CPSIA not slow down or reverse the progress we have made to protect the health and safety of children. H.R. 2715 confirms that vision.
By a 421-2 vote in the House and a unanimous vote in the Senate, Congress provided additional flexibility while reaffirming the key landmark provisions of the CPSIA. Specifically, Congress again reiterated that new children's products should have one of the lowest lead levels in the world, that toys and children's products should be subject to independent third-party testing, and that the SaferProducts.gov database of consumer product safety incidents should continue to operate as a beacon of sunshine for consumers.
As the Commission moves forward to implement H.R. 2715, I look forward to providing relief to many small businesses, while also continuing to strengthen our nation's product safety net.