I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5097 
To require greater notification to the public regarding product recalls, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 14, 2019 
Ms. MENG (for herself, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. NADLER, Ms. 
TLAIB, Mr. CISNEROS, and Ms. ESCOBAR) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To require greater notification to the public regarding 
product recalls, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Total Recall Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The safety of the consumers in the United 
States relies on the effectiveness of a company’s out-
reach. 
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(2) There are at least 400 products recalled 
each year by the Consumer Product Safety Commis-
sion. 
(3) According to the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, the average response rate of consumers 
for most product recalls is between 4 and 18 per-
cent. 
SEC. 3. INCREASED NOTIFICATION ABOUT RECALLS BY 
COMPANIES PARTICIPATING IN RECALLS. 
(a) MANDATING PUBLIC NOTICE AND INCLUDING 
IMPORTERS.—Section 15(d)(1) of the Consumer Product 
Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2064(d)(1)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘may order’’ and inserting 
‘‘shall order’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘any distributor’’ and inserting 
‘‘any distributor, importer,’’; and 
(3) by striking ‘‘by subsection (c) and’’ and in-
serting the following: ‘‘by subsection (c), and may 
order the manufacturer or any distributor, importer, 
or retailer of such product’’. 
(b) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 15(d) of such 
Act (15 U.S.C. 2064(d)) is further amended— 
(A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 
paragraph (4); 
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(B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) The Commission may not approve an action plan 
submitted pursuant to paragraph (2) unless such action 
plan provides that the person submitting the action plan 
has performed or will perform the following: 
‘‘(A) Not later than the expiration of the 365- 
day period starting on the date the Commission ap-
proves the action plan, spending on advertising the 
recall of the product subject to the order, using 
methods including those determined by the Commis-
sion for conducting recalls, an amount equal to the 
greater of— 
‘‘(i)(I) at least 25 percent of the dollar 
amount spent by such person in the 12-month 
period during which such person spent the 
greatest amount on traditional marketing (not 
including marketing through the Internet) of 
the product; plus 
‘‘(II) at least the total dollar amount spent 
by such person marketing the product through 
the Internet; or 
‘‘(ii) if the product was part of a product 
bundle, at least 5 percent of the dollar amount 
spent by such person marketing the subscrip-
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tion service under which the product bundle was 
sold. 
‘‘(B) Submitting to the Commission such evi-
dence the Commission determines adequate to show 
that such person has complied with the requirements 
in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) Posting in a clear and conspicuous man-
ner the notice required by paragraph (1) on any 
Internet website maintained by such person until the 
participation rate in the recall that is the subject of 
the notice is at least 95 percent. 
‘‘(D) Posting to each social media account 
maintained by such person the notice required by 
paragraph (1), or a description of such notice and 
a link to such notice, at least 5 times each calendar 
month for the 12 months after the Commission has 
approved the action plan.’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(5) In this subsection, the term ‘product bundle’ 
means a single product comprised of two or more products 
that is sold to consumers under a subscription service that 
does not permit the consumer to select every product com-
prising the single product.’’. 
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(2) TOLLING
OF
EXPENDITURES.—Paragraph 
(4) of section 15(d) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2064(d)) 
(as redesignated by section 3(b)(1)(A) of this Act) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) If the Commission revokes its approval of the 
action plan, the running of the 365-day period in para-
graph (3)(A) shall be tolled. If the Commission approves 
an alternative action plan to the action plan for which ap-
proval was revoked, the time period for completing the ex-
penditures as required by paragraph (3)(A) for such alter-
native action plan shall not exceed the number of days 
that did not elapse under such 365-day period.’’. 
(c) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS APPLY TO SET-
TLEMENT OFFERS.—Section 15(f) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 
2064(f)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Any settlement’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (2), any settle-
ment’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘unless the settlement 
offer is clearly frivolous or duplicative of offers 
previously made’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-
graph (4); and 
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(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing new paragraphs: 
‘‘(2) A settlement offer described in paragraph (1) 
may not be transmitted if such offer— 
‘‘(A) is clearly frivolous; 
‘‘(B) is duplicative of offers previously made; or 
‘‘(C) does not obligate the manufacturer, dis-
tributor, importer, or retailer that is a party to such 
offer to perform the actions in subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of subsection (k)(1). 
‘‘(3) At the outset of a hearing under this subsection, 
the Commission shall recommend that a manufacturer, 
distributor, importer, or retailer that is or becomes a party 
to a settlement offer perform the actions described in sub-
section (d)(3)(A).’’. 
(d) VOLUNTARY CORRECTIVE ACTION NOTIFICA-
TION.—Section 15 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2064) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(k) VOLUNTARY CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS.—Any voluntary correc-
tive action taken by a manufacturer, distributor, im-
porter, or retailer in consultation with the Commis-
sion relating to a product described in subsection (b) 
may be determined by the Commission as a suffi-
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cient remedial measure only if, as part of such vol-
untary corrective action— 
‘‘(A) such manufacturer, distributor, im-
porter, or retailer provides the notice required 
by subsection (c); and 
‘‘(B) such notice is posted in the manner 
required by subparagraphs (C) and (D) of sub-
section (d)(3). 
‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—When a manufac-
turer, distributor, importer, or retailer informs the 
Commission that it will take voluntary corrective ac-
tion in consultation with the Commission, the Com-
mission shall recommend that such manufacturer, 
distributor, importer, or retailer perform the actions 
described in subsection (d)(3)(A) as part of the vol-
untary corrective action.’’. 
SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 
(a) ACTION PLANS AND SETTLEMENT OFFERS.— 
The amendments made by subsections (a) through (c) of 
section 2 shall only apply to action plans and settlement 
offers resulting from hearings under 15(d) of the Con-
sumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2064(d)) initiated 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) VOLUNTARY CORRECTIVE ACTION.—The amend-
ments made by section 2(d) shall only apply to voluntary 
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corrective actions about which the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission is initially informed on or after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. RECALL PARTICIPATION RATES REPORTED TO 
CONGRESS. 
(a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Section 27(j) of the 
Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2076(j)) is 
amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
inserting after ‘‘and the Congress’’ the following: ‘‘, 
and shall make publicly available on its website,’’; 
(2) in paragraph (12)(F), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(3) by redesignating paragraph (13) as para-
graph (14); and 
(4) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(13) for each recall initiated or ongoing during 
the reporting period that is pursuant to an order 
under section 15(d), a settlement agreement, or a 
voluntary corrective action taken in consultation 
with the Commission— 
‘‘(A) the number of products subject to the 
recall sold; 
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‘‘(B) the number of such products for 
which a consumer has received a remedy; 
‘‘(C) the number of consumers to whom a 
direct notification has been made; and 
‘‘(D) the number of incidences of injuries 
resulting from a product subject to the recall 
occurring after the initiation of the recall that 
are reported to the Commission; and’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply on the first day of the first fiscal 
year which begins after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
SEC. 6. DIRECT NOTIFICATION DEFINED. 
Section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 
U.S.C. 2052(a)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 
(17) as paragraphs (8) through (18), respectively; 
and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) DIRECT NOTIFICATION.—The term ‘direct 
notification’ means notification by phone, email, or 
mail.’’. 
Æ 
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