The Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Family Dollar Stores Inc., of Charlotte, N.C., is announcing the voluntary recall of 1.8 million toy dart gun sets, due to an aspiration hazard. (CPSC notice, dated 05/17/10, available at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10234.html)
The State Department, World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recently issued the following travel warnings, travel alerts, country specific information sheets, and disease outbreak-related information:
The House Ways and Means Committee’s Trade Subcommittee has issued a press release announcing that it will be holding a hearing on May 20, 2010 to review customs operations administered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced that it will vote on publication of a final rule on infant bath seats and discuss a draft final rule on baby walkers during its May 19, 2010 open commission meeting.
The European Commission has adopted a recommendation to introduce an EU-wide method for classifying and reporting consumer complaints. A new method is needed as there are more than 700 organizations handling consumer complaints in Europe, but they use different classifications, making comparison difficult. Implementation will be discussed at a May 27 conference. (Press release, dated 05/12/10, available at http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/567&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en)
The European Council has agreed on a draft directive which would require that experiments with animals be replaced, wherever possible, by an alternative method which is scientifically satisfactory; the number of animals used in projects be reduced to a minimum; and the degree of pain and suffering caused to animals be limited to the minimum. (Press release, dated 05/11/10, available at http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=PRES/10/105&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en)
On May 12, 2010, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Iran Sanctions: Why Does the U.S. Government do Business with Companies that Invest in Iran.