Le « Consumer Product Safety Act » américain et sa mise en œuvre par la « Consumer Product Safety Commission »

Abstract

Legal efforts to ensure the safety of consumer goods cannot rely exclusively on the rules of product liability but have to comprise preventive measures as well as means to react to non-anticipated risks. The Consumer Product Safety Act 1972 still represents the most advanced legislative model responding to such needs. The article describes the Act's legislative history and its original regulatory concept. It analyses the practical difficulties and the political opposition encountered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in implementing the Act. Regardless of the substantial cut-backs in the Commission's budget and the « deregulation » especially of the provisions on mandatory safety standards, the American expérience with the injury information System and with the recall of dangerous products should be taken into account in the further development of product safety law in Europe.