Article Archive

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

CPSC LEGISLATION TO AFFECT RETAILERS

Legislation to strengthen enforcement efforts of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will likely affect retailers of many consumer products, John Satagaj told retailers participating in the North American Retail Hardware Association’s (NRHA) March National Legislative Teleconference. Satagaj is NRHA’s Washington legislative counsel.

Although the legislation, expected to be enacted yet this spring, is aimed primarily at children’s products, several provisions could cover a much broader range of consumer products. For example, Satagaj said, provisions giving state attorneys general authority to enforce CPSC rules could well apply to many products. So, he said, could a provision giving whistleblower protections to employees who report product safety concerns.

Touching on tax matters, Satagaj said there was still talk in Congress about estate tax relief. The House had scheduled a hearing on the issue and Senate tax writers were talking about “making room” in the fiscal year 2009 budget resolution for estate tax relief.

The Senate proposal might well be “stopping the clock” on 2009 estate tax rules which would set the exemption at $3.6 million and the highest tax rate at 45 percent. An alternative plan would be to raise the exemption to $5 million and cut the top tax rate to 35 percent.

NRHA’s next National Legislative Teleconferences are scheduled for April 16 and May 21, 2008. Members can participate by calling toll-free 1-866-285-7780 and using access code 2951592. Teleconferences begin at 11 a.m. eastern time.