Tuesday, Jul. 28, 2009

Tenenbaum heads to China

CPSC chief to warn of tougher rules on toys, drywall

WASHINGTON - Inez Tenenbaum, the nation’s new consumer-safety chief, will make her debut on the world stage this week to warn Chinese and other major Asian exporters to expect tougher regulation of toys, drywall and other products found to have recent defects after entering the United States.

Tenenbaum, the former South Carolina schools superintendent confirmed by the Senate last month to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission, leaves today on a nine-day trip to Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam.

Tenenbaum, 58, will address foreign leaders gathered in Singapore for the annual summit of APEC, a major trade group that coordinates commercial ties among the United States, Canada, Russia and 18 Asian countries.

In dozens of meetings with government and business dignitaries from across the vast region, Tenenbaum planned to use Southern charm to deliver a key message:

Her agency is once again aggressively enforcing consumer-safety measures after years of near-dormancy caused by funding cuts, staff reductions and commission vacancies under President George W. Bush.

“We must do more to protect the American public - especially our nation’s children - from being harmed by unsafe products,” President Barack Obama said in May when he tapped Tenenbaum to lead the agency.

Two-thirds of American consumer products now come from overseas, including a large share from China.

In just the few weeks since taking the helm, Tenenbaum has met with Chinese representatives on their way to Florida and Louisiana to probe health and safety problems linked to drywall made in their country.

“They’ve sent their scientists to visit homes to try to assess what elements are in the drywall that are causing respiratory issues and corrosion of electrical wires,” Tenenbaum said before leaving Washington.

The drywall defects - and earlier problems with Chinese toys made with lead paint - have prompted some members of Congress to call for sanctions against Beijing if it doesn’t exert more control over the production of its exported goods.

Tenenbaum said the Chinese officials she’s met with appear sincere in wanting to resolve the drywall issues.

“They have not denied it’s a problem,” Tenenbaum said. “They’re trying to isolate the problem with the drywall and to look at solutions.”

Tenenbaum said members of her staff will travel to China in the coming weeks to visit drywall factories and speak with their managers.

Accompanying Tenenbaum on her Asia trip will be Carter Keithley, head of the Toy Industry Association, the main lobbying group for American manufacturers of children’s games, dolls and other playthings.

At all three Asia stops, Tenenbaum and Keithley will brief their foreign counterparts on new requirements under the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which Congress passed partly in response to public uproar over Chinese lead-painted toys.

The new law bans lead and phthalates - a chemical used to soften plastics - in children’s products. It also requires tracking labels, ad warnings and third-party testing and certification of imported toys and other goods.

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