CPSIA Penalties

There has been considerable press coverage of the fines issued by the CPSC for lead violations in Children's products - see

It is interesting to note that the violations occurred before the passing of the CPSIA Act of August 14, 2008. Does this suggest that the penalties in the CPSIA Act will be more severe or more unilaterally applied than in the past? No one knows because there has been no post August 14, 2008 decision released. What it does do is validate the intent of the act. It means that companies in the Childrens Consumer Product supply chain must comply with the act if they want to avoid the penalties both financial and to their corporate and product reputations.