AAFA Again Pushes CPSC to Halt Imports of Non-Compliant Children's Sleepwear
The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) again urged the Consumer Product Safety Commission to take a tough stance on products that violate federal flammability standards for children’s sleepwear, in a letter dated Jan. 6. According to the trade group, sleepwear that violates the CPSC standard continues to “flood the market, appearing in every retail channel.”
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
AAFA’s originally asked CPSC to step up its enforcement efforts in a letter sent in September (see 13091721). The presence of violative product on the market not only endangers children, but also gives the companies that commit the violations a competitive advantage, said the AAFA in its first letter to CPSC. If the lax enforcement is the reflection of a new policy on sleepwear flammability, then the relaxed rules should be formally codified in regulation, said the trade group.
In her October response (here), former CPSC Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum assured the AAFA that it has and will continue to take “vigorous enforcement action” against non-compliant companies. “In the last several months, staff inspected more than 50 importers and retailers, and collected, tested, and assessed nearly 200 clothing samples,” said the response. The sleepwear standard is essential to the protection of children, and should not be relaxed, said Tenenbaum. If the AAFA has concerns about individual products, then it should notify the commission, she said. According to Tenenbaum, the AAFA hadn’t brought a specific allegation of noncompliance since July 2012.
In its Jan. 6 rebuttal sent to new acting Chairman Robert Adler, the AAFA said it wasn’t requesting a relaxation of footwear standards. Instead, it was arguing that if relaxed standards are already in place, then they should be codified to level the playing field for AAFA members. “Unfortunately, the former Chairman, in her response, mistakenly misinterpreted AAFA’s request to mean that AAFA would now advocate for the Commission to formally relax federal sleepwear standards,” said the AAFA. “That assertion is completely false.”
Tenenbaum’s assertion that the AAFA hasn’t submitted specific complaints was misplaced as well, said the AAFA. As recently as April 2013, the AAFA sent a complaint to the CPSC Textile Flammability Team regarding non-compliant sleepwear, it said. The trade group has sent “numerous” other complaints to CPSC staff since July 2012, it said. The AAFA was never notified that they were filed with the wrong staff members, and the CPSC should issue guidance on filing complaints if that’s the case, it said. “Regardless, going forward every trade complaint sent from AAFA to CPSC staff regarding non-compliant sleepwear will also be sent to the CPSC Chairman, Commissioners, and their staff,” said the AAFA.