First, thanks to all of you who emailed or called Congress expressing your support for the new consumer incident database, SaferProducts.gov, at CPSC. If you haven’t visited yet, check out the Search page and see what incidents consumers have already filed.

But during last weekend’s debate on keeping the government open, discussion of eliminating funding for this important safety program continued. In the end, the final agreed bill did not include a defunding of the database. It did however contain a required study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to be conducted within 180 days.

The proposed study has to examine:

  • whether the information that is submitted is from first-hand knowledge;
  • whether the complaint information is adequate for CPSC investigative purposes;
  • whether the product information is sufficient to enable consumers and stakeholders to identify the product; and
  • whether the time allotment before posting complaints is reasonable for adjudication of claims.
However, with spending discussions continuing in Congress, additional action could still be taken. But having spent the money to conduct this study, any possible changes to the database should wait for any results.