[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2256 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2256

To establish an Office of International and Domestic Product Safety and 
   a Product Safety Coordinating Council to improve the management, 
       coordination, promotion, and oversight of product safety 
  responsibilities, develop a centralized public database for product 
        recalls, advisories, and alerts, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 29, 2007

  Mr. Schumer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish an Office of International and Domestic Product Safety and 
   a Product Safety Coordinating Council to improve the management, 
       coordination, promotion, and oversight of product safety 
  responsibilities, develop a centralized public database for product 
        recalls, advisories, and alerts, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``International and Domestic Product 
Safety Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Commissioner.--The term ``Commissioner'' means the 
        Commissioner responsible for the U.S. Customs and Border 
        Protection of the Department of Homeland Security.
            (2) Consumer product.--The term ``consumer product'' means 
        any of the following:
                    (A) Food, as defined in section 201 of the Federal 
                Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321), 
                including--
                            (i) poultry and poultry products, as 
                        defined in section 4 of the Poultry Products 
                        Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 453);
                            (ii) meat and meat food products, as 
                        defined in section 1 of the Federal Meat 
                        Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601); and
                            (iii) eggs and egg products, as defined in 
                        the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 
                        1033).
                    (B) A drug, device, cosmetic, dietary supplement, 
                infant formula, and food additive, as such terms are 
                defined in section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
                Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321).
                    (C) A consumer product, as such term is defined in 
                section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 
                U.S.C. 2052).
                    (D) A motor vehicle, motor vehicle equipment, and 
                replacement equipment, as such terms are defined in the 
                National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (49 
                U.S.C. 30102).
                    (E) A biological product, as such term is defined 
                in section 351(i) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
                U.S.C. 262(i)).
                    (F) A pesticide, as such term is defined by the 
                Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 
                U.S.C. 136).
                    (G) Any other food, consumer product, fishery 
                product, beverage, or tobacco product with respect to 
                which a department or agency that is represented on the 
                Council has jurisdiction.
            (3) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Product Safety 
        Coordinating Council established under section 4.
            (4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of International and Domestic Product Safety 
        established under section 3.
            (5) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of 
        International and Domestic Product Safety established under 
        section 3.

SEC. 3. OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC PRODUCT SAFETY; DIRECTOR.

    (a) Establishment of Office.--There is established in the 
Department of Commerce an Office of International and Domestic Product 
Safety.
    (b) Director.--The Office shall be headed by a Director of 
International and Domestic Product Safety who shall be appointed by the 
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who 
shall report to the Secretary of Commerce.
    (c) Duties.--The Director shall be responsible for overseeing and 
coordinating international and domestic consumer product safety 
responsibilities in a manner that protects the health and safety of 
United States consumers and ensures that consumers and businesses have 
access to vital consumer product safety information. The Director 
shall--
            (1) establish policies, objectives, and priorities to 
        improve the management, coordination, promotion, and oversight 
        of all departments and agencies that are responsible for 
        international and domestic consumer product safety;
            (2) work with consumer groups, industry, and other 
        interested parties to establish the policies, objectives, and 
        priorities described in paragraph (1);
            (3) create a ``one-stop'' Federal website for consumer 
        product safety information;
            (4) develop and maintain a centralized user-friendly public 
        database of all consumer product recalls, advisories, alerts, 
        seizures, defect determinations, import bans, and other actions 
        related to products sold (or offered for sale) in the United 
        States, including mandatory and voluntary actions taken by 
        Federal and State departments and agencies, or by businesses;
            (5) implement a system for disseminating consumer product 
        recall alerts to consumers and businesses, including retailers, 
        the media, and medical professionals;
            (6) promote the development of risk assessment models to 
        assist Federal departments and agencies responsible for the 
        importation and safety of consumer products to better identify 
        and prevent the importation or introduction into commerce of 
        unsafe products;
            (7) promote the development of food tracing technology to 
        provide consumers with access to the supply chain history of a 
        consumer product;
            (8) develop guidelines to facilitate information sharing 
        relating to the importation and safety of consumer products 
        among Federal departments and agencies, State and local 
        governments, businesses, and United States trading partners;
            (9) develop and maintain a public electronic directory of 
        services to assist consumers and businesses in locating 
        consumer product safety information;
            (10) develop a framework for engaging United States trading 
        partners in efforts to improve consumer product safety, 
        including cooperation and coordination related to safety 
        standards, testing, certification, audits, and inspections 
        before consumer products are shipped to the United States;
            (11) establish an inventory of Memoranda of Understanding 
        negotiated by Federal departments and agencies with foreign 
        governments related to the importation and safety of consumer 
        products, and promote coordination among Federal departments 
        and agencies seeking to negotiate new memoranda; and
            (12) develop and implement other activities to ensure that 
        there is a unified effort to protect the health and safety of 
        United States consumers, including--
                    (A) simplifying consumer-retailer interaction 
                regarding consumer products identified as unsafe;
                    (B) improving consumer product labeling;
                    (C) developing comprehensive recordkeeping 
                throughout the production, importation, and 
                distribution of consumer products; and
                    (D) increasing public access to information 
                regarding--
                            (i) consumer product safety standards, 
                        testing, and certification;
                            (ii) enforcement of consumer product safety 
                        laws, and
                            (iii) consumer product-related deaths, 
                        injuries, and illness.
    (d) Compensation.--Section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
            ``Director of International and Domestic Product Safety, 
        Department of Commerce.''.
    (e) Function of the Office.--The function of the Office of 
International and Domestic Product Safety is to assist the Director in 
carrying out the duties of the Director described under this Act.
    (f) Staff.--The Director may employ and fix the compensation of 
such officers and employees as may be necessary to assist the Director 
in carrying out the duties of the Director. The Director may direct, 
with the concurrence of the Secretary of a department or head of an 
agency, the temporary reassignment within the Federal Government of 
personnel employed by such department or agency on a reimbursable or 
nonreimbursable basis.

SEC. 4. PRODUCT SAFETY COORDINATING COUNCIL.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a Product Safety 
Coordinating Council.
    (b) Composition.--The Council shall consist of the following 
members or their designees:
            (1) The Director, who shall chair the Council.
            (2) The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
            (3) The Under Secretary of Commerce for International 
        Trade.
            (4) A Deputy United States Trade Representative, as 
        determined by the United States Trade Representative.
            (5) The Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and 
        Agricultural Affairs.
            (6) The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety.
            (7) The Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
            (8) The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries of the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
            (9) The Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
            (10) The Administrator of the National Highway Traffic 
        Safety Administration.
            (11) The Deputy Administrator of the Environmental 
        Protection Agency.
            (12) The Administrator of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and 
        Trade Bureau.
            (13) The Deputy Attorney General.
            (14) The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention.
            (15) The Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission.
            (16) Such other officers of the United States as the 
        Director determines necessary to carry out the functions of the 
        Council.
    (c) Department and Agency Responsibilities.--
            (1) In general.--The department or agency of each member of 
        the Council shall assist the Director in--
                    (A) developing and implementing a unified effort to 
                protect the health and safety of United States 
                consumers;
                    (B) ensuring that consumers and businesses have 
                access to vital consumer product safety information; 
                and
                    (C) carrying out the responsibilities of the 
                Director under this Act.
            (2) Cooperation.--Each member of the Council shall ensure 
        that the department or agency the member represents--
                    (A) provides such assistance, information, and 
                advice as the Director may request;
                    (B) complies with information sharing policies, 
                procedures, guidelines, and standards established by 
                the Director; and
                    (C) provides adequate resources to support the 
                activities and operations of the Office.
    (d) Meetings.--The Director shall convene monthly meetings of the 
Council.

SEC. 5. STRATEGIC PLAN.

    (a) Strategic Plan Required.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the 
Director shall, after consulting with the members of the Council, 
submit to the President and to Congress a strategic plan.
    (b) Contents of Strategic Plan.--The strategic plan submitted under 
subsection (a) shall contain--
            (1) a detailed description of the goals, objectives, and 
        priorities of the Office and the Council;
            (2) a description of the methods for achieving the goals, 
        objectives, and priorities;
            (3) a description of the performance measures that will be 
        used to monitor results in achieving the goals, objectives, and 
        priorities; and
            (4) an estimate of the resources necessary to achieve the 
        goals, objectives, and priorities described in subparagraph 
        (1), and an estimate of the cost of the resources.

SEC. 6. REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC PRODUCT SAFETY.

    (a) Report Required.--Not later than November 1 of each calendar 
year, the Director shall submit to the President and to Congress, a 
written report on the safety of international and domestic consumer 
products.
    (b) Content of Report.--The report submitted under subsection (a) 
shall contain a detailed description of the implementation of the 
duties set forth in section 3(c) of the Act.
    (c) Consultations.--The Director shall consult with the members of 
the Council with respect to the preparation of the report required 
under subsection (a). Any comments provided by the members of the 
Council shall be submitted to the Director not later than October 15 of 
each calendar year. The Director shall submit the report to Congress 
after taking into account all comments received.

SEC. 7. PRIORITY IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE TALKS.

    The President, the Director, and members of the Council shall seek 
to engage trading partners of the United States in bilateral and 
multilateral fora regarding improvements in consumer product safety, 
including cooperation and coordination with respect to--
            (1) authorization of preexport audits and inspections;
            (2) establishment of safety standards, testing, and 
        certifications; and
            (3) public dissemination of information concerning consumer 
        product recalls, advisories, alerts, seizures, defect 
        determinations, import bans, and other related actions.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 
Commerce such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of 
this Act and the activities of the Office.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF INTERAGENCY SUPPORT FOR PRODUCT SAFETY 
              COORDINATION.

    The use of interagency funding and other forms of support is 
authorized by Congress to carry out the functions and activities of the 
Office and the functions and activities of the Council.
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