Following a wave of product recalls in 2007, President Bush signed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 ('the Act') on August 14, imposing more stringent safety standards for consumer products. The Act targets children’s products, restricting the use of lead and phthalates and creating new safety standards altogether for certain infant and toddler products such as cribs. In addition, the Act mandates independent third party testing of all products subject to children’s product safety rules, new tracking labels and registration requirements for children’s products, and new rules for advertising children’s products.

This client alert highlights some of the Act's key new standards and the sweeping provisions designed to enforce them, including heightened criminal and civil penalties, so that clients may begin to assess the impact of the Act on their business.

Please see full alert for more information.