The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) today welcomed the announcement that President Barack Obama intends to nominate a new commission chair and a new commissioner to serve on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and praised the additional funding President Obama will provide to the CPSC in his FY 2010 budget to execute its mission. 

“The mission of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is vital,” said AAFA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke.  “Inez Moore Tenenbaum and Robert Adler, if confirmed as chair and commissioner respectively, will join Acting Chair Nancy Nord and Commissioner Thomas Moore to lead critical efforts to properly implement the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). While AAFA supports the purpose of the CPSIA -- to protect our children from unsafe products -- the implementation of the CPSIA has caused incredible disruption in our industry with little corresponding improvement in product safety and public health benefits.”

“To better implement the CPSIA and carry out the other functions of the CPSC, President Obama has rightly increased the funding levels for the CPSC in his FY 2010 budget to $107 million, a 71% increase since 2007,” Burke said.  “While this does not fully fund agency objectives, we are on our way toward meeting that goal.”

“Since its enactment, AAFA has called for Congress and the CPSC to start a constructive dialogue about many of CPSIA’s serious implementation flaws, including its arbitrary and retroactive deadlines, ambiguous language, and lack of risk assessment, which jeopardizes the livelihood of the apparel and footwear industries while providing no benefit to public safety,” stated Burke.

In a May 4 letter to President Obama, AAFA urged the appointment of additional commissioners, requested additional funding, and called for a top-to-bottom review of the CPSIA to inventory what changes need to be made to make its implementation practical.  

“Once all of the commissioner vacancies are filled, I am confident that we can work to resolve many of the issues of the CPSIA to provide meaningful improvements to public safety without bringing unnecessary harm to the U.S. apparel and footwear industry,” Burke added.

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) is the national trade association representing apparel, footwear and other sewn products companies, and their suppliers, which compete in the global market.  AAFA's mission is to promote and enhance its members' competitiveness, productivity and profitability in the global market by minimizing regulatory, commercial, political, and trade restraints.

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