Front Page	E-mail PagePrint Version

Federal agency initiates new inspection program at the Port of Long Beach

LONG BEACH – 03/13/08 – The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has said it will start deploying specially-trained inspectors at US ports to screen imported toys and a variety of other selected products such as fireworks, cigarette lighters and electronics for potential safety hazards.

The federal agency said members of its newly-formed Import Surveillance Division (ISD) will work directly with US Customs agents and test selected products for unsafe levels of lead, check for loose parts that could pose a choking risk to children, and inspect electric components for faulty wiring and other flaws.

The new initiative will place inspectors full time at ports, said Nancy Nord, the commission's acting chairman. Initially, the agency will have inspectors only at the Port of Long Beach.

The new ISD will have the authority to hold shipments deemed hazardous.

Prior to the formation of the new unit, US Customs and Border Protection agents would conduct safety tests only at the request of the CPSC.

The move was spurred largely because of the recall last fall of millions of toys because of lead contamination or other hazards.

Nord said $614 billion worth of products that fall under the agency's jurisdiction came into the country last year, with 40% of that total originating in China.

According to the American Association of Port Authorities, approximately 100 million cargo containers worth more than $600 billion arrive at US ports every year.

The creation of the new ISD coincides with an agreement between the Commission and the Vietnamese government calling for improving the safety standards for consumer products exported to the US from Vietnam.

The announcement of the agreement came as a by-product of a recent visit to Hanoi by CPSC officials, who met with their government counterparts in Vietnam and conducting product safety training for Vietnamese exporters of consumer products.

The new agreement between the CPSC and Vietnam’s Directorate for Standards and Quality (STAMEQ) of the Ministry of Science and Technology calls for information and technical exchanges to implement consumer safety programs.

“Vietnam has become an increasingly important trading partner with the United States,” said the CPSC’s Nord.

“Working with industry and directly with government agencies in other countries, such as Vietnam,” she said, “is one of the most effective ways to ensure the safety of products made abroad and intended for US store shelves.”

Dr. Ngo Quy Viet, director general of STAMEQ, said, “Vietnam understands the importance of protecting the safety of consumers.”

The country, he said, “welcomes collaboration with foreign partners, especially with those that have such an effective safety system as the United States, to improve consumer and importer confidence.”

The volume of imports from Vietnam to the US has soared in recent years.

According to the latest figures from the US Department of Commerce, nearly $8.6 billion worth of products under CPSC jurisdiction came from Vietnam in 2007, a 31% increase over the previous year.

Over the past several years, the CPSC has signed similar safety improvement agreements with Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, the European Union, Egypt, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Peru, and Taiwan.

Go back, or read the latest Front Page stories:

Obama Should Complete Doha Round, CEOs Say

NEW YORK – 11/20/08 – A number of senior level corporate executives are urging the incoming Obama Administration to complete the long-stalled Doha Round of international trade talks in a new report published by the Wall Street Journal; responding to the report, New York Democrat Sen. Charles Schumer said that the Obama Administration and ''Democrats in general think we should trade in the global world,'' but concerns about ''income inequality'' should make business and government ''work together to cushion the blow.''