[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 38 (Monday, March 10, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3418-S3420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. LANDRIEU:
  S. 584. A bill to direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to 
promulgate a rule that requires manufacturers of certain consumer 
products to establish and maintain a system for providing notification 
of recalls of such products to consumers who first purchase such a 
product; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, today I am happy to join my colleagues 
in the House of Representatives, Congressman Moran and Congressman 
McGovern, in re-introducing the Product Safety Notification and Recall 
Effectiveness Act. As my colleagues may recall, this legislation makes 
it easier for parents to learn when a product they bought may harm 
their children, so that they might take steps to return the item or 
have it repaired.
  On January 6 of this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration released a study that contained a lot of good news for 
parents. In its study, NHTSA found that its child safety seat 
registration program has been incredibly successful. NHTSA implemented 
this program in March of 1993, and the information that is starting to 
come in shows that nine times more child safety seats are now 
registered than before the program was launched. In fact, in 1993 only 
3 percent of seats were registered; now 27 percent are. And this is 
significant, because this has directly led to more effective recalls of 
defective child seats--the recall repair rate has increased by more 
than half since 1993, from 13.8 percent to 21.5 percent.
  The reason I mention this study to my colleagues is because NHTSA's 
program is very much like the one that this bill would establish. This 
legislation would require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to 
issue a rule requiring manufacturers to establish and maintain a system 
for notifying consumers of the recall of certain products that may 
cause harm to children. The database could be assembled through the use 
of shortened product registration cards, Internet registration, or 
other alternate means of encouraging consumers to provide vital contact 
information.
  There is a very clear reason why such a database is necessary. As we 
all know, these products come with registration cards. The intent of 
these cards should be that customers will fill them out and send them 
in, which gives the companies a way to contact purchasers. 
Unfortunately, many times consumers do not return these cards, and 
there is a good reason behind this. These cards sometimes contain 40 to 
50, or even more, different questions or boxes to fill out. They ask 
about marital status, salary information, and about what kind of 
products a person buys. Either a person does not wish to

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reveal that much personal information, or they simply do not have time 
to fill out the card. In fact, the intent seems to be more to get 
personal marketing information from consumers than anything else. That 
is why its such a good idea to shorten the card and just ask for the 
basic information, like a customer's name, address, phone number, and 
e-mail address. Not only have studies done by companies like Mattel and 
BrandStamp shown that these methods increase the number of consumers 
who respond, NHTSA--working on almost ten years of real data--has 
clearly proven a dramatic increase in registration and, as a result, in 
the number of products successfully recalled.
  But a card is not the only way to compile this information. For 
instance, many companies are now using online registration, where 
customers can log on to their website and quickly enter the 
information. For Americans with Internet connections, this is often 
much less of a hassle than filling out a card, attaching a stamp, and 
mailing it in. It's quick and easy. And this legislation allows for the 
use of alternate methods such as this in compiling this database.
  I am sure that some of my colleagues might be concerned about the 
cost of setting up such a program. I say to my colleagues that I also 
have no desire to pass along more costs to the companies that make 
these products and, ultimately, to the consumer. However, let me again 
point to the NHTSA study. The indirect cost of consumers for the car 
seat program is 43 cents per seat sold. Forty-three cents. I do not 
know of a single parent who would not pay an extra forty-three cents to 
ensure the safety of their child. But I would say to my colleagues, 
don't take my word for it--ask the thousands of parents who have 
returned recalled car seats since 1993. I'm sure they would tell you 
that was the best 43 cents they had ever spent.
  The need for this legislation is only highlighted by the CPSC's 
refusal to consider such a rule last Friday, despite intense efforts by 
consumer groups like the Consumer Federation of America and SAFE to 
highlight the importance of this change to the way recalls work. I 
world urge my colleagues to join me in sponsoring this important bill, 
and I hope that we can pass this legislation into law as soon as 
possible.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 584

       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 ``Product Safety Notification 
     and Recall Effectiveness Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Consumer Product Safety Commission conducts 
     approximately 300 recalls of hazardous, dangerous, and 
     defective consumer products each year.
       (2) In developing comprehensive corrective action plans 
     with recalling companies, the Consumer Product Safety 
     Commission staff greatly relies upon the media and retailers 
     to alert consumers to the dangers of unsafe consumer 
     products, because the manufacturers do not generally possess 
     contact information regarding the purchasing consumers. Based 
     upon information received from companies maintaining customer 
     registration lists, such contact information is known for 
     generally less than 7 percent of the total consumer products 
     produced and distributed.
       (3) The Consumer Product Safety Commission staff has found 
     that most consumers do not return purchaser identification 
     cards because of requests for marketing and personal 
     information on the cards, and the likelihood of receiving 
     unsolicited marketing materials.
       (4) The Consumer Product Safety Commission staff has 
     conducted research demonstrating that direct consumer contact 
     is one of the most effective ways of motivating consumer 
     response to a consumer product recall.
       (5) Companies that maintain consumer product purchase data, 
     such as product registration cards, warranty cards, and 
     rebate cards, are able to effectively notify consumers of a 
     consumer product recall.
       (6) The Consumer Product Safety Commission staff has found 
     that a consumer product safety owner card, without marketing 
     questions or requests for personal information, that 
     accompanied products such as small household appliances and 
     juvenile products would increase consumer participation and 
     information necessary for direct notification in consumer 
     product recalls.
       (7) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has, 
     since March 1993, required similar simplified, marketing-free 
     product registration cards on child safety seats used in 
     motor vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety 
     Administration has found this requirement has increased 
     recall compliance rates.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to reduce the 
     number of deaths and injuries from defective and hazardous 
     consumer products through improved recall effectiveness, by--
       (1) requiring the Consumer Product Safety Commission to 
     promulgate a rule to require manufacturers of juvenile 
     products, small household appliances, and certain other 
     consumer products, to include a simplified product safety 
     owner card with those consumer products at the time of 
     original purchase by consumers, or develop effective 
     electronic registration of the first purchasers of such 
     products, to develop a customer database for the purpose of 
     notifying consumers about recalls of those products; and
       (2) encouraging manufacturers, private labelers, retailers, 
     and others to use creativity and innovation to create and 
     maintain effective methods of notifying consumers in the 
     event of a consumer product recall.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       For purposes of this Act:
       (1) Terms defined in consumer product safety act.--The 
     definitions set forth in section 3 of the Consumer Product 
     Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2052) shall apply to this Act.
       (2) Covered consumer product.--The term ``covered consumer 
     product'' means--
       (A) a juvenile product;
       (B) a small household appliance; and
       (C) such other consumer product as the Commission considers 
     appropriate for achieving the purpose of this Act.
       (3) Juvenile product.--The term ``juvenile product''--
       (A) means a consumer product intended for use, or that may 
     be reasonably expected to be used, by children under the age 
     of 5 years; and
       (B) includes, among other items--
       (i) full-size cribs and nonfull-size cribs;
       (ii) toddler beds;
       (iii) high chairs, booster chairs, and hook-on chairs;
       (iv) bath seats;
       (v) gates and other enclosures for confining a child;
       (vi) playpens;
       (vii) stationary activity centers;
       (viii) strollers;
       (ix) walkers;
       (x) swings;
       (xi) child carriers;
       (xii) bassinets and cradles; and
       (xiii) children's toys.
       (4) Product safety owner card.--The term ``product safety 
     owner card'' means a standardized product identification card 
     supplied with a consumer product by the manufacturer of the 
     product, at the time of original purchase by the first 
     purchaser of such product for purposes other than resale, 
     that only requests that the consumer of such product provide 
     to the manufacturer a minimal level of personal information 
     needed to enable the manufacturer to contact the consumer in 
     the event of a recall of the product.
       (5) Small household appliance.--The term ``small household 
     appliance'' means a consumer product that is a toaster, 
     toaster oven, blender, food processor, coffee maker, or other 
     similar small appliance as provided for in the rule 
     promulgated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

     SEC. 4. RULE REQUIRING SYSTEM TO PROVIDE NOTICE OF RECALLS OF 
                   CERTAIN CONSUMER PRODUCTS.

       (a) In General.--The Commission shall promulgate a rule 
     under section 16(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 
     U.S.C. 2065(b)) that requires that the manufacturer of a 
     covered consumer product shall establish and maintain a 
     system for providing notification of recalls of such product 
     to consumers of such product.
       (b) Requirement To Create Database.--
       (1) In general.--The rule shall require that the system 
     include use of product safety owner cards, Internet 
     registration, or an alternative method, to create a database 
     of information regarding consumers of covered consumer 
     products, for the sole purpose of notifying such consumers of 
     recalls of such products.
       (2) Use of technology.--Alternative methods specified in 
     the rule may include use of on-line product registration and 
     consumer notification, consumer information data bases, 
     electronic tagging and bar codes, embedded computer chips in 
     consumer products, or other electronic and design strategies 
     to notify consumers about product recalls, that the 
     Commission determines will increase the effectiveness of 
     recalls of covered consumer products.
       (c) Use of Commission Staff Proposal.--In promulgating the 
     rule, the Commission shall consider the staff draft for an 
     Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking entitled ``Purchaser 
     Owner Card Program'', dated June 19, 2001.
       (d) Exclusion of Low-Price Items.--The Commission shall 
     have the authority to exclude certain low-cost items from the 
     rule for good cause.
       (e) Deadlines.--
       (1) In general.--The Commission--
       (A) shall issue a proposed rule under this section by not 
     later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act; 
     and

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       (B) shall promulgate a final rule under this section by not 
     later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (2) Extension.--The Commission may extend the deadline 
     described in paragraph (1) if the Commission provides timely 
     notice to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 
     of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
     and Transportation of the Senate.
                                 ______