By: Todd Knode 

In 2007 the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued more recalls for products with illegal levels of lead paint than it had for the three previous years combined.  During the height of the Christmas shopping season Congress took a substantial step to decrease the amount of lead allowed in children’s products and to increase the CPSC’s budget to further enforce these laws.  Though the Consumer Product Reform Act of 2007 has not yet become law the bill has strong bipartisan support and is likely to become law soon.

The budget increase for the CPSC seems to be needed.  In 2007 there were over 70 product recalls because of lead paint; a search of the CPSC website shows there were 20 in 2006, 13 in 2005 and only 6 in 2004.  There has already been one lead paint recall this year.

Current law allows for lead levels of 600 parts per million.  The new law will set a goal for lead content in children’s toys of 100 parts per million within four years after the law’s passage.  This new standard is only for children’s products, which are products designed for use by children 12 years of age and younger.

Most toys sold in the US are imported and 80% of those come from China.  Thus, the new law appears to be aimed not at domestic producers, but foreign manufacturers.  Critics of US trade policies have previously cited lax foreign laws as the reason for the decline in product safety.  This rise of the “fair trade” and not “free trade” argument may empower Congress to pass more laws to force foreign countries to raise their own labor and environmental standards that cannot be accomplished in trade negotiations.