Consumer Product Safety Commission - Essay Example

Consumer Product Safety Commission The United s of America CPSC was created in the year 1973 by the congress as a totally independent agency. This commission was established under the Consumer Product Safety Act, and whose sole aim was to guard the public against any unreasonable injuries or risks that are linked to consumer products (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 1). Moreover, the commission’s role is to protect consumers from many types of products which are under the jurisdiction of the agency.

Thus, to add on spa and pool safety, CPSC also protects consumers or rather families from other hazards such as such as fire, chemical, electrical or mechanical accidents. This commission was established under congress laws that give it the base for offering protection to the public against unreasonable risks that are brought about by several consumer products covered in the agency’s jurisdiction. These laws include: The Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) which gives the commission the authority to set standards and place bans on certain products, The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) which authorizes the commission to develop regulatory or enforcement tools, The H.R.2715 which enables the commission to address the limit of content and exceptions that come with the limits, The Children’s Gasoline Burn Prevention Act (CGCPA) which require that all the gasoline containers from manufacturers to conform to all the safety requirements and lastly, Federal Hazardous Substance Act (FHSA) which requires that all the consumer household products should have the warning labels and thus give the commission the powers to ban or regulate hazardous products (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 1).

Consumer Product Safety Commission has the powers to conduct inquiries or hearings through its agents across the nation. In addition, it is given powers to administer oaths, order a submission of reports or answers to a given enforcement function, order the attendance and testimonies of witnesses whereby any physical and documented evidence must be provided, compensate the witnesses the fees for mileage covered to attend court hearings, to appeal, initiate, defend and prosecute any criminal act through their legal representatives only with the concurrence of the Attorney General (Legal Information Institute, 1).

Any commission has rules or rather laws under which it operates. For the case of the Consumer Safety Product Commission, there are a number of laws which regulate its operations. To start with, in circumstances where there is noncompliance with the order from the commission on inquiries, the commission is expected to file a petition in the court within jurisdiction of the inquiry. Secondly, for the people affected by the product safety, the commission restricts any disclosure of information to other parties apart from its agents as there is no individual who is answerable to the commission apart from particular affected parties.

Moreover, the commission is expected to, by rule, obtain data for certain products from their manufacturers. This data entails general safety and performance of the product from the period of its original purchase to various buyers and to the first buyer of the product. Furthermore, the commission has the authority to get into contracts with private organizations, government entities or other individuals across the nation through their agents. In addition, the commission has the ability to plan, create and eventually operate any facility which is suitable for research across the nation.

Finally, the commission is expected to prepare periodical reports that should be submitted to the congress and the President. This submission, according to the congress, is supposed to be at the start of every session and should cover comprehensively every aspect of the administration (Legal Information Institute, 1).Work CitedLegal Information Institute. U. S. Code 2076- Additional Functions of Consumer Product Safety Commission. Retrieved From: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/2076 U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Consumer Product Safety Act. U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. 1972. PrintU.S. Government. Consumer Product Safety Commission: Better Data needed to Help and Analyze Potential Hazards. General Books. 2011. PrintU.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Statutes. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 2014. Retrieved From: https://www.cpsc.gov/en/Regulations-Laws--Standards/Statutes/