The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a direct final rule updating the mandatory safety requirements for toddler beds as well as guidance on referrals for potential criminal enforcement.
Updated Safety Standard for Toddler Beds
In October 2019, the CPSC issued an update to the consumer product safety standard for toddler beds under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, incorporating by reference voluntary standard ASTM F1821-19, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toddler Beds. ASTM has now issued a revised voluntary standard, ASTM F1821-26, and the CPSC has determined to incorporate by reference this updated version.
The CPSC’s direct final rule incorporating the revised standard will apply from Aug. 29, unless the CPSC receives significant adverse comment by June 15, in which case the direct final rule will be withdrawn.
Guidance on Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement
The CPSC has announced a general policy, subject to appropriate exceptions and to the extent consistent with law, that when the agency is deciding whether to refer alleged violations of criminal regulatory offenses to the Department of Justice, officers and employees of the CPSC should consider, among other factors:
- the harm or risk of harm, pecuniary or otherwise, caused by the alleged offense;
- whether the statutory offense is a strict liability offense with no mens rea requirement;
- the potential gain to the putative defendant that could result from the offense;
- whether the putative defendant held specialized knowledge, expertise, or was licensed in an industry related to the rule or regulation at issue; and
- evidence, if any is available, of the putative defendant’s general awareness of the unlawfulness of his conduct as well as his knowledge or lack thereof of the regulation at issue.
The CPSC asserts that this general policy is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the U.S., its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
The CPSC also indicated that it would provide by May 11 a report to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget containing (1) a list of all of the agency’s criminal regulatory offenses enforceable by the CPSC or the DOJ, and (2) for each such criminal regulatory offense, the range of potential criminal penalties for a violation and the applicable mens rea standard for the criminal regulatory offense. The agency said it would list statutes, if any, that provide for criminal penalties, including those statutes that include strict liability offenses for regulatory violations enforced by the CPSC found in the Code of Federal Regulations in 16 CFR subchapters B, C, D, E, and F.
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