The U.S. House of Representatives is considering legislation named The Safety Hazard and Recall Efficiency (SHARE) Information Act, which would make changes to Section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). Section 6(b) addresses requirements the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) must adhere to before making public disclosures about a company's products. There are two main changes to the CPSA included in the SHARE information Act.
First, the legislation would increase the limit on penalties the CPSC can pursue for various actions banned by the Consumer Product Safety Act. The current limit for penalties is $15 million and the newly proposed legislation would increase the limit to $50 million. Second, the proposed legislation would remove provisions that allow companies an opportunity to stop the CPSC from disclosing inaccurate information about their products.
The Consumer Product Safety Act currently requires the CPSC to give companies notice, and a chance to respond, before the CPSC publicizes any specific information about a company's products. If the CPSC decides to disclose despite a company's objection, that company has the choice of asking a federal court to prohibit the CPSC from making the announcement. Under current requirements, the company can also ask for a public retraction if the CPSC makes a disclosure containing inaccurate information about the company's products. The proposed legislation would give the CPSC carte blanche to determine whether the agency made a mistake in rendering the public disclosure, effectively removing a company's only recourse in preventing the federal government from disseminating false information about its products.
