Rynek i konsumenci · 9.05.2002

Baby Walkers; Termination of Rulemaking

In August of 1994 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking under authority of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) stating that it had reason to believe that baby walkers might present an unreasonable risk of injury or death due to stair falls. 59 FR 39306. The Commission now has information that demonstrates that currently available baby walkers do not present "an unreasonable risk of personal injury" due to stair falls. A finding of unreasonable risk of personal injury is a necessary prerequisite under the FHSA for the Commission to declare an article intended for use by children to be a hazardous substance due to a mechanical hazard. The FHSA also prohibits the Commission from declaring that an article intended for use by children presents a mechanical hazard if there is an adopted and implemented voluntary standard that addresses the risk unless it can make, inter alia, one or more of the following findings. One is that compliance with the standard will not adequately reduce or eliminate the risk. Another is that it is unlikely that there will be substantial compliance with the standard. The Commi