U.S. Congress

Yesterday the U.S. Senate confirmed Dana Baiocco (pronounced “Bee Awe Co”) as a Commissioner for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission with a term that runs through October of 2024. The confirmation took over eight months from Baiocco’s initial nomination last September and came over sixteen months into…

As we predicted earlier this year, Congress is making moves toward enacting cosmetics reform legislation in the near future. In late October 2017, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced S. 2003, the “FDA Cosmetic Safety and Modernization Act,” which we will refer to as the “Hatch bill” for purposes…

As we previously blogged about in mid-2016, Food and Drug Administration officials have been exploring and pushing for the creation of a new user fee program to support its regulatory activities related to over-the-counter (OTC, also known as nonprescription) drug products. In June of 2016, the Agency held…

As we have discussed in previous posts, Congress may be moving towards finally enacting some long-awaited cosmetics reform legislation this year. On January 13, Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX) reintroduced his cosmetics modernization bill as H.R.575. The package of reforms was first introduced in November 2015 as the Cosmetic…

As we’ve previously written about, 2016 represented a regulatory sea change for manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), who became subject to FDA oversight and requirements under the May 2016 Deeming Rule for tobacco products. In Monday’s Federal Register, FDA issued…

We have had a huge election result, perhaps the most significant in our lifetime, potentially even exceeding what was called the Reagan Revolution. It is critical, particularly for anybody from Washington DC, to have a great deal of modesty and humility in prognosticating the future under the Trump…

Back in April 2015, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Personal Care Products Safety Act (S.1014). More recently, on September 22, 2016, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee received testimony from Senators Feinstein and Collins in support of this bipartisan legislation. The…

In the wake of two tragic amusement park ride accidents in Kansas and Tennessee, and the ongoing political debate in America over gun safety issues, we felt it timely to help answer a question that continues to be asked in the media: does the U.S. Consumer Product Safety…

As a parting act before its seven-week recess, the House last Thursday passed by a vote of 306-117 Senator Pat Roberts’s (R-KS) legislation (S.764) requiring the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Already approved by the Senate last week, the bill is now expected to be signed into law…

Four months after the Senate defeated a GE labeling bill (S.2609) introduced by Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS), the upper chamber Thursday night passed, 63-30, a compromise measure (S. 764) that Roberts co-wrote with Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the Ag Committee’s Ranking Member.

On May 17, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) announced that it is allowing an additional 200,000 short tons of cane sugar imports to meet food manufacturers’ increasing demand for non-genetically modified sugar products. In its news release, the agency explained that

The latest salvo in the legislative food fight over genetically engineered (GE) ingredients came from the Senate, where Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) has introduced a bill that would instruct the Secretary of Agriculture to create a voluntary food labeling standard for bioengineered foods. Perhaps most importantly,…

Reversing course from the end of 2015, FDA recently announced an import ban on genetically engineered (GE) salmon until such a time as comprehensive labeling guidelines are introduced. Despite FDA’s approval of GE salmon in November 2015, the agency appears to have bowed to congressional pressure and placed…

The 2016 Omnibus Spending Bill recently passed by both houses of Congress ushers in important developments in the food safety, labeling, and nutrition spaces. Following House and Senate votes December 18, it now goes to President Obama for his signature.

The International Campaign Against Microbeads in Cosmetics is most likely celebrating this week, following the California State Legislature’s passage of a bill that would prohibit the use of plastic microbeads in personal care products after January 1, 2020. The bill, AB 888, now heads to Governor Jerry Brown’s…

The proposed Federal regulation of GMOs is proceeding. Following the White House’s recent action on GMOs, Representative Pompeo’s “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act” (H.R. 1599) was passed by the House Agriculture Committee on July 14.

[This article originally appeared on Law360.com on June 23, 2015.]

Earlier this year, we wrote about a far-reaching product safety ordinance enacted into law in Albany County, NY (the “County”) entitled “The Toxic Free Toys Act.” At the time, we expressed our concern that numerous issues would arise in the local law’s implementation and enforcement, particularly with respect…

Last week, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore)-joined by chef-lebrity Tom Colicchio-announced the reintroduction of The Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act, a federal bill that would mandate the labeling of foods or beverages containing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). The bill is…

This has been a big year for GMO legislation. In 2014 alone, 25 states have proposed 67 pieces of legislation aimed either at the labeling of products containing GMOs or at the ban of GMO-containing crops. While this space has strived to keep you up-to-date with the latest…

As we’ve explored in past posts, Congress is currently considering a bill that aims to harmonize the patchwork of state efforts at regulating GMO labeling by placing such regulation firmly within FDA’s jurisdiction. Dubbed the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (H.R. 4432), this bill would give FDA…

Yesterday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture on the re-nomination of Robert Adler to be a Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). If cloture is invoked—meaning three-fifths of the full Senate, or 60 votes, supports the attempt for cloture (assuming the “nuclear option”…

At their April Senate confirmation hearing, both incoming CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye and Commissioner Joe Mohorovic pledged to Senator John Thune (R-SD) to submit plans for reducing third party testing burdens within 60 days of confirmation. Rather than send separate plans, Kaye and Mohorovic submitted a joint letter…

On October 14, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report entitled “Consumer Product Safety Commission: Challenges and Options for Responding to New and Emerging Risks.” The report analyzes the timeliness of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) response to “new and emerging” safety risks from new or…

Earlier this year, we began a series of blog entries to update our readers on legislative efforts on Capitol Hill that affect stakeholders within the product safety arena. Over the summer, we updated you on an amendment to an appropriations bill passed in the House of Representatives that…

We do not typically take positions on product specific issues pending before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”), but the CPSC’s new safety standard for magnet sets demonstrates both why the agency exists and how it can use its regulatory authority to protect consumers. In enacting the…

Throughout the year, this space has periodically re-visited the topic of regulating the manufacture and labeling of foods with genetically modified ingredients (GMOs) at the state and federal level. This week, a lawsuit out of Kauai, Hawaii shed light on the fate of these regulations at the county…

In the wake of the tragic drowning of Virginia Graeme Baker, the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. The legislation was sponsored by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and…

Earlier this evening, the U.S. Senate confirmed Elliot Kaye as the new CPSC Chairman and Joe Mohorovic as a new Commissioner of the agency. Once Kaye and Mohorovic are officially sworn in this week, the Commission will be fully constituted with five Commissioners.

Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced on the Senate Floor (video clip below) that the Senate will consider and vote on the nominations of Elliot Kaye and Joe Mohorovic on Monday, July 28th. President Obama nominated Kaye to serve as the next Chairman and as a…

The House of Representatives is currently considering H.R. 5016, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2015, which provides funding to many different parts of the federal government for the next fiscal year. This includes the CPSC, which would be funded $118 million under the House…

Today the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved three pending nominations for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The Committee approved Elliot Kaye as Chairman and Joe Mohorovic and Bob Adler as Commissioners to the CPSC. Although the Committee approved his nomination, seven Republican Senators reportedly voted…

The CPSC’s Acting Chairman, Robert (Bob) Adler, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for his confirmation hearing this week along with four other nominees for various positions within the federal government. Acting Chairman Adler was renominated by the President for a second term…

Update: Commissioner Adler has been confirmed as a witness for the June 11th hearing.

Earlier this year, we began a series of blog entries to update our readers on legislative efforts on Capitol Hill that affect stakeholders within the product safety arena.

The long awaited announcement of a new CPSC Chairman is finally here. After more than a year of speculation and intrigue, the search ended right where it started today when President Obama announced that Elliot Kaye is his nominee to become the next Chairman of the CPSC.

Earlier this year, we blogged about Senator Kirstin Gillibrand’s (D-NY) announcement that she planned to introduce legislation expanding the scope of Section 108 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (“CPSIA”). That section of the CPSIA makes children’s toys and child care articles subject to a ban on…

CPSC Commissioner Ann Marie Buerkle announced today that Joe Martyak, her Chief Counsel, has accepted a position as Vice President for Communications with the Hawaii Community Foundation and will be departing the agency this month. Prior to working for Commissioner Buerkle, Joe served as Chief of Staff, Director…

In a somewhat unusual development for a CPSC rulemaking, Pennsylvania Senators Robert Casey and Patrick Toomey submitted a bipartisan comment letter into the official administrative record for CPSC’s proposed voluntary recalls rulemaking that echoed many of the same concerns voiced by at least 45 others who submitted comments…

In some breaking news from Capitol Hill, 20-term Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has decided not to seek re-election in 2014. As the former Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and its current Ranking Member, Rep. Waxman played an instrumental role in framing and driving the…

Although the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) authorized a budget of $136.4 million for CPSC in fiscal year 2014, Congress set the CPSC’s authorization levels years before the recent budget climate took hold in Washington DC. In its 2014 budget request, the agency requested $117…

The CPSC has released the staff briefing package for a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) to amend its existing regulation interpreting the requirements of Section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). Agency staff will brief the Commissioners on January 23rd and the Commission is scheduled to…

After Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (“CPSIA”) in 2008 and the major amendment to the CPSIA (Public Law 112-28) in 2011, the product safety world turned its attention and focus to CPSC regulatory action – and for good reason. Over the past five years, the…

We first wrote about Chairman Tenenbaum departing the CPSC and Commissioner Bob Adler assuming the role of Acting Chairman back in October. Last week the CPSC issued a press release confirming that Commissioner Adler became the Acting Chairman of the agency on December 1, 2013 following the Chairman…

Yesterday President Obama announced his intent to nominate Joseph P. Mohorovic as a Commissioner on the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If confirmed by the Senate, he would succeed former Republican Commissioner Nancy Nord whose term expired at the end of October.

In February of this year, CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum announced that she would not seek a second term as Chairman of the agency. This morning she announced that she would be leaving the CPSC at the end of November. In addition, Commissioner Nancy Nord will end her term…

Proposed legislation has been introduced by 3 members of the House, including Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), senior Democrat on the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee, which would direct the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS) to create a single, standard front-of-package labeling system for all food…

Starting in 2012, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) teamed up with football helmet manufacturers, the National Football League (NFL), and others to eliminate the use of outdated football helmets and teach safer game play among youth football players. The “Youth Football Brain Safety” initiative has helped…