On May 5, 2009, President Obama announced his nomination of Inez Moore Tenenbaum to chair the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Robert S. Adler to be a commissioner. He also announced his intent to nominate a fifth (Republican) commissioner this summer. Since former CPSC Chairman, Harold Stratton, resigned in July 2006, the CPSC has been operating under the direction of only two commissioners, Nancy Nord (Acting Chair) and Thomas Moore. These two commissioners often are in sharp disagreement, hindering Commission decision-making. Over the past several months, members of Congress, and even Acting Chair Nord herself, have been calling for the President to nominate a new Chair.
Collectively, the new commissioners, if confirmed, could dramatically change the direction and focus of the agency and may, over time, impose significant new mandates and restrictions on companies that manufacture, import, and sell consumer products. How the new Commission interprets and enforces the recently enacted Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) will also directly impact all such firms.
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