Viking range agrees to pay $4.65 million civil penalty for failure to report defective gas ranges
April 13, 2017, msnewsnow.com
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Viking Range, LLC, of Greenwood, Mississippi, and Viking’s parent firm, The Middleby Corporation, of Elgin, Illinois (collectively “Viking”), have agreed to pay a $4.65 million civil penalty. The civil penalty settles charges that Viking failed to immediately report to CPSC that its gas ranges contained a defect that could create a substantial product hazard or that the ranges created an unreasonable risk of serious injury. Between 2008 and 2014, Viking received 170 incident reports of ranges that had turned on spontaneously and could not be turned off using the control knobs, resulting in extreme surface temperatures that posed a burn hazard to consumers.
Should Apple repair your broken phone?
April 14, 2017, news.com/au
APPLE is facing court action over allegedly refusing to repair iPhones under warranty. At issue is that some companies believe that damage to its product can only be repaired by its manufacturer, lest a consumer surrender the device’s warranty. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is disputing this view in court as it takes on Apple over claims it unfairly denied customers iPhone and iPad repairs. The consumer watchdog contends that consumers have the right to choose their own phone repairer and keep their warranty.
Trump administration issues guidance on “two for one” reduction in regulations
April 12, 2017, National Law Review (Foley & Lardner LLP)
New guidance from the Trump administration clarifies the original Executive Order 13771, “Reducing Regulations and Controlling Regulatory Costs”. The guidance set forth applies to a “significant regulatory action” or “significant guidance document” with costs greater than zero, but does not cover legal advisory opinions or other types of internal or investigatory documents.
Target joins the Toy Industry Association
April 12, 2017, toynews-online.biz
Top US retailer Target has joined the Toy Industry Association, an action made possible by a 2011 amendment to TIA by-laws to allow retailers, licensors, inventors, and independent sales representatives to join the Association as full regular members. It was announced that Don Asleson, senior compliance analyst at the retailer, will join TIA’s federal, state, and safety standards/technical committees.
Productivity Commission releases final report on Australian Consumer Law review
April 11, 2017, Sydney Morning Herald
Discrepancies in product safety matters between states and the federally-empowered Australian Competition and Consumer Commission won’t occur in the future if a key recommendation by the country’s Productivity Commission is adopted. The recommendation that “the state and ACT government should relinquish their powers to impose compulsory recalls or interim bans,” is just one of 4 outlined in the Commission’s final report on the Australian Consumer Law.
California’s New Prop. 65 Warning Regulations Put Primary Burden for Providing Warning on Manufacturers
April 11, 2017, jdsupra.com (Bryan Cave)
New warning regulations covering companies that do business in California and whose products may contain harmful chemicals will take affect August 30, 2018, according the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). Prop. 65 was passed by California voters in 1986 as a prohibition against discharging harmful chemicals into drinking water. OEHHA maintains a list of chemicals known by the state to cause cancer that has grown to over 800 naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals. The new regulations cover a variety of areas including advance notices of Proposition 65 actions, safe harbor levels, retailer responsibility for certain knowledge not acted upon, and required language for certain warnings.
Editorial: Save the U.S. Chemical Safety Board
April 5, 2017, Chemical Processing
A group that plays a crucial role in investigating chemical accidents and then sharing its findings and insights with industry to avoid their recurrence, would lose its funding under the 2018 Federal Budget released by the Trump Administration in March. Yet leading chemical companies, industry groups and professional associations have remained surprisingly silent about the potential defunding of the Chemical Safety Board.
Toddler Monitor Creates a New Category for Child Safety
April 11, 2017, SFGate.com
Toddler Monitor is a motion-sensor device designed to alert a parent if their toddler has left their bedroom or safe space. You simply hang the device on a doorknob and activate it from a smartphone. The start-up was founded by two Calgary, Canada moms and management consultants who acted upon their own need to monitor the movements of their toddler-aged children, but finding nothing on the market that met their needs.
Two-year-old girl from Derby left fighting for her life after swallowing tiny battery
April 10, 2017, Derby Telegraph
A two-year old girl from Derby, England was left fighting for her life after accidentally swallowing a lithium “button” battery. Now her mother wants to warn other parents about the dangers of the batteries.
Editorial: Maybe just pull those dandelions by hand
April 10, 2017, Sacramento Bee
In California, more than 10 million pounds of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s popular weed-killer Roundup, are applied to more than 5 million acres every year. Now Monsanto faces the challenge of demonstrating in a court proceeding that its product does not cause cancer and should not be listed on the state’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals know to the State of California to cause cancer. Evidence that the company may have paid academics to sign off on research ghostwritten by Monsanto has added to the burdens that the agricultural giant must overcome in order to prevail in the legal proceedings.
