Safety agency could sue IKEA over dresser stability issue, official says
May 11, 2016, arcamax.com
Federal safety regulators will sue IKEA if the retailer does not take new steps to address problems with potentially unstable dressers already blamed for 3 toddlers’ deaths. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Elliot Kaye told a meeting of safety advocates that while the agency approved what IKEA was allowed to call a repair program it launched last summer, he told the advocates there was now “no day light” between their demands for action and his own.
Payless is pulling light-up kids shoes suspected of catching fire
May 11, 2016, Fortune
Payless is reportedly pulling its boys’ Jake Lighted Runner light-up shoes over suspicion that they caused a fire in an SUV in Texas. The boy’s parents told a local NBC station that he left them in the SUV over the week-end, and when they opened the car, the back seat was charred. The parents blamed the shoes’ lithium batteries, which have been linked to other product fires, for the incident. These batteries are also believed to be the cause for fires caused by hoverboards in the U.S. and other countries.
Statute of Limitations: Taking the steam out of CPSC-backed enforcement action
May 11, 2016, JDSupra/Morrison & Foerster
An ongoing case against Spectrum Brands, Inc. may shed light on whether certain Consumer Product Safety Commission enforcement efforts would be time-barred and limit the penalties available under the Consumer Product Safety Act. The case stems from a violation on reporting hazardous coffeemakers that were introduced by Spectrum into the U.S. market in early 2008. Incidents involving reports of handles breaking and causing hot coffee spills on consumer began occurring in 2008. According to the government’s recently filed motion for summary judgment, Spectrum had received 60 reports by the end of May, 2009, and more than 300 by the end of 2009, providing the company with sufficient information in the form of consumer complaints to trigger the relevant reporting requirements “no later than May 2009.” Spectrum reported the alleged product hazard in April 2012. Spectrum has moved for partial summary judgment based on the relevant statute of limitations. The company argues that CPSC’s claims for civil penalties stemming from delayed reporting are untimely based on the CPSC filing in June 2015 of a complaint against Spectrum for failure to timely report the product hazard.
Hawaii sues Takata, Honda over exploding air bag inflators
March 13, 2016, The Wall Street Journal
The state claims that the defective air bags threaten peoples’ lives in a law suit filed in the First Circuit Court of Hawaii that also names auto manufacturer Honda. Hawaii is the first state in the United States to sue over air bags. More than 70,000 cars containing Takata air bags were sold in Hawaii, and the state is seeking penalties of $10,000 per violation. This development follows Takata’s announcement recently that it will lose $120 million in its latest fiscal year as the costs of the crisis have mounted.
Lumber Liquidators posts worse than expected loss as sales dip
May 10, 2016, Bloomberg/The Standard
Lumber Liquidators Holdings’ Inc., whose stock has tumbled 52% in the past year, reported its fourth straight sales decline since the “60 Minutes” news program reported in March 2015 that the chain sold Chinese-made laminate flooring with cancer-causing levels of formaldehyde. The company denied those allegations and eventually stopped selling those kinds of floors. Sales for the past quarter fell 10% to $234 million.
Feds investigating hoverboard fire in north end apartment
May 11, 2016, Boston Herald
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is probing the fire that drove 3 families out of their North End Boston apartments. Confirming this hoverboard investigation, CPSC spokeswoman Patty Davis said “We consider them to be defective and pose an unreasonable threat of fires to consumers if they fail. Do not buy a hoverboard that does not meet the safety standard.” Since August the agency has investigated 60 hoverboard fires in 20 states in which faulty batteries are suspected.
3-D Printing and regulatory future home remedies: pharma-to-table
May 13, 2016, National Law Review /New York University School of Law
Last August the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its first drug produced by additive manufacturing or “3-D Printing.” While the agency recently conducted a workshop on 3-D printing, it appears in no rush – the subject was dropped from its 2016 Guidance Agenda entirely for 2016 though it had suggested it will soon issue relevance guidance. Still, the day is not far off where 3-D printers will become ordinary home appliances, and its use in drug manufacturing won’t be far behind it.
California’s Proposition 65: History and Proposed Amendments in 2016
May 10, 2016, Stinson, Leonard, Street
At California Governor Jerry Brown’s urging for reform, the state’s Proposition 65 is undergoing a process of public involvement. Significant opposition to the initial proposal introduced in January, 2015 by the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment led to its being pulled from consideration last November. A new set of proposed changes were released March 25, 2016. They include changes in safe harbor label wording as well as links to a yet-to-be created Proposition 65 website. There are also clarifications, including on methods of transmission for consumer product exposure warnings for internet sales.
Terrorism and oil prices impact global supply chain resilience
May 13, 2016, ebnonline
The increasingly global business of electronics has the supply chain at its heart, making supply chain resilience a crucial business strategy. Volatility in oil prices, political volatility, and terrorism are all pressing concerns. Just released, the 2016 FM Global Resilience Index ranks countries’ business resilience to supply chain disruption. Resilient supply chains are a competitive advantage and fragile supply chains can harm companies, according to an industry analyst. Understanding the risks based on data analysis can be an important first step in minimizing risk.
