I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2911

To direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate a consumer product safety standard under section 7(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act for each durable infant or toddler product, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

OWENS, Mr. EMANUEL, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. 

PAYNE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. ROSS, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. CARSON

of Indiana, and Mr. MORAN of Virginia) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate a consumer product safety standard under section 7(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act for each 

durable infant or toddler product, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Infant and Toddler 

5 Durable Product Safety Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Unintentional injuries are the leading cause 

4 of death among children, and for every such injury 

5 that is fatal, approximately 18 children are hospital6 ized and 233 are treated by emergency departments 

7 for such injuries that are nonfatal. 

8 (2) According to the Consumer Product Safety 

9 Commission, an average of 65 children under the 

10 age of 5 die each year in incidents associated with 

11 nursery products, and about 27 of these deaths each 

12 year are associated with cribs. 

13 (3) In 2001, an estimated 69,500 children 

14 under the age of 5 were treated in United States 

15 hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated 

16 with nursery products, and there were 13,070 inju17 ries to children under the age of 5 years associated 

18 with strollers alone. 

19 (4) Of the 210 recalls issued by the Consumer 

20 Product Safety Commission in 2002, 90 (or 43 per21 cent) were children’s products. Children’s products 

22 were recalled, on average, nearly 2 times per week, 

23 and accounted for over 11,000,000 individual units. 

24 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

25 The purpose of this Act is to prevent dangerous chil26 dren’s products from getting to the market, by requiring 
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1 independent testing of all durable infant and toddler prod2 ucts before they enter commerce.

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

6 means the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

7 (2) DURABLE INFANT OR TODDLER PROD8 UCT.—The term ‘‘durable infant or toddler prod9 uct’’—

10 (A) means a durable product intended for 

11 use, or that may be reasonably expected to be 

12 used, by children under the age of 5 years; and 

13 (B) includes—

14 (i) full-size cribs and nonfull-size 

15 cribs; 

16 (ii) toddler beds; 

17 (iii) car seats; 

18 (iv) high chairs, booster chairs, and 

19 hook-on chair; 

20 (v) bath seats; 

21 (vi) gates and other enclosures for 

22 confining a child; 

23 (vii) play yards; 

24 (viii) stationary activity centers; 

25 (ix) child carriers; 
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1 (x) strollers; 

2 (xi) walkers; 

3 (xii) swings; and 

4 (xiii) bassinets and cradles. 

5 (3) PANEL.—The term ‘‘Panel’’ means the In6 fant and Toddler Product Review Panel established 

7 under section 7. 

8 SEC. 5. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARDS FOR DU9 RABLE INFANT AND TODDLER PRODUCTS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Consumer Products Safety 

11 Commission shall, without regard to sections 7(b)(1) and 

12 9(f)(3)(D) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 2056(b)(1), 2058(f)(3)(D)), promulgate a con14 sumer product safety standard under section 7(a) of the 

15 Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2056(a)) for 

16 each durable infant or toddler product. 

17 (b) SCHEDULE.—The Commission shall promulgate 

18 consumer product safety standards under this section—

19 (1) for at least 7 durable infant or toddler 

20 products every 2 calendar years beginning after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, through 2010; 

22 and 

23 (2) for all durable infant or toddler products by 

24 not later than December 31, 2010.
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1 (c) CONSULTATION WITH PANEL.—The Commission 

2 shall promulgate any consumer product safety standard 

3 under this section for a durable infant or toddler prod4 uct—

5 (1) in consultation with the Panel; and 

6 (2) after considering the results of a review by 

7 such panel of any existing guidelines for that prod8 uct. 

9 SEC. 6. DURABLE INFANT AND TODDLER PRODUCT COM10 PLIANCE CERTIFICATION. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall by rule—

12 (1) require that testing and certification re13 quired under section 14 of the Consumer Product 

14 Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063) for a durable infant or 

15 toddler product shall be performed by an inde16 pendent third party; and 

17 (2) require the use, and prescribe the form and 

18 content, of a label under section 14(c) for such prod19 ucts for which such a certificate is issued, including 

20 a seal prescribed under subsection (b). 

21 (b) CONSULTATION WITH PANEL.—The Commission 

22 shall delegate to the Panel the authority to prescribe a 

23 seal that shall be used, under the labeling requirements 

24 under subsection (a)(2), for infant or toddler products 

25 that are certified pursuant to section 14(a) of the Con-
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1 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063(a)(2)) to com2 ply with applicable consumer product safety standards 

3 promulgated under this Act. 

4 SEC. 7. INFANT AND TODDLER PRODUCT REVIEW PANEL. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commission shall estab6 lish an Infant and Toddler Product Review Panel to advise 

7 the Commission regarding the implementation of this Act. 

8 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Panel shall—

9 (1) review and report to the Commission re10 garding the existing guidelines for durable infant or 

11 toddler products; and 

12 (2) advise the Commission regarding the pro13 mulgation of consumer product safety standards 

14 under this Act. 

15 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Panel shall be com17 prised of—

18 (A) representatives of—

19 (i) the juvenile product manufacturers 

20 industry; 

21 (ii) consumer groups; and 

22 (iii) independent child product engi23 neers and experts; and 

24 (B) Consumer Product Safety Commission 

25 engineers. 
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1 (2) LIMITATION.—Representatives under para2 graph (1)(A)(i) shall not exceed 40 percent of the 

3 membership of the Panel.

4 SEC. 8. AMENDMENTS TO CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

5 ACT. 

6 (a) REMOVAL OF LIMITATION ON MAXIMUM CIVIL

7 PENALTY.—Section 20(a) of the Consumer Product Safe8 ty Act (15 U.S.C. 2069(a)) is amended—

9 (1) in the second sentence by striking ‘‘Subject 

10 to paragraph (2),’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to para11 graphs (2) and (3),’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(4) The second sentence of paragraph (1) shall not 

14 apply to any violation with respect to a durable infant or 

15 toddler product.’’. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING DISCLOSURE OF IN17 FORMATION NOT APPLICABLE.—Section 6(b) of the Con18 sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2055(b)) is amend19 ed by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(9) This subsection shall not apply with respect to 

21 any durable infant or toddler product.’’. 

22 (c) DEFINITION OF DURABLE INFANT OR TODDLER

23 PRODUCT.—Section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety 

24 Act (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

25 the following: 
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1 ‘‘(15) The term ‘durable infant or toddler prod2 uct’ has the meaning that term has in the Infant 

3 and Toddler Product Safety Act.’’.

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