Chinese Drywall Victims Need Action At The 3rd Biennial United States – China Consumer Product Safety Commission Summit
On October 21, 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will be attending the 3rd Biennial United States – China Consumer Product Safety Commission Summit. This is a summit between the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and its counterpart agency, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China (AQSIQ). For five days, or until October 26, 2009, the summit will focus on “emphasizing the need for commitment to a more comprehensive approach to product safety.”
The last of these summits was in 2007 and covered a wide range of safety issues including, making sure manufacturers understood the necessity of meeting both voluntary standards and United States requirements, information exchanges on recalls and other pressing product safety matters, and training the Chinese government officials and manufacturers on CPSC requirements.
This summit is designed to again focus on product safety. Through this summit the participants are supposed to ensure that U.S. importers and Chinese suppliers establish a comprehensive and systematic approach to preventing and detecting safety hazards in consumer products, from product design, through manufacturing, and to the ultimate use of the product by the consumer.
Addressing the Chinese Drywall Issue at the CPSC
This sounds like a perfect time to address the Chinese drywall disaster. This would be a perfect time for Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum, the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, to put a voice to the thousands of victims of this defective product who are suffering in their worthless homes.
The CPSC states on their web site that the CPSC welcomes what they call “stakeholders.” Stakeholders are folks who can pay their expenses to China and Shareholders are considered using the following criteria:
- The nature of the stakeholder’s connection to the safety of imported consumer products (under CPSC jurisdiction) from China;
- CPSC’s desire to assemble a delegation reflecting a diverse cross section of key stakeholder organizations; and
- The chronological order in which interested stakeholders express their interest, via CPSC’s web site, in accompanying the CPSC delegation.
I think it is imperative that someone who is an advocate for victims of Chinese drywall is selected as a stakeholder. This should be accomplished even if the CPSC needs to add an extra stakeholder. If the CPSC already has a stakeholder that represents the interests of victims of Chinese drywall, then this should be immediately announced. It should be announced so that victims of Chinese drywall can contact this stakeholder and have a say on what is discussed during this summit.
Defective Chinese Drywall Action Items for the CPSC
Senator Nelson, Governor Crist, and all of the other elected representatives that are representing victims of Chinese drywall need to make sure that this summit is utilized to promote the following:
- Ensure that Chinese companies that have manufactured drywall that has been imported to the United States have sufficient assets and/or insurance to protect victims of this tragedy.
- Make sure that Chinese companies that have manufactured drywall that has been imported to the United States voluntarily submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the Federal Court that is currently in control of the Multi-District Litigation for all Federal Chinese drywall cases.
- Immediately establish a fund for victims of Chinese drywall that is sufficient to make all victims of this problem whole.
- Establish elemental standards for drywall so that defective, toxic drywall will never be imported from any country every again.
This summit is a perfect opportunity for action. Please make sure to call, e-mail and write Senator Nelson, Governor Crist, the Chairwoman for the CPSC Inez Tenenbaum, and your other elected representatives and make sure this opportunity is not missed.