BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Congresswoman Grace
Meng introduced new legislation
that would require
businesses to strengthen and
streamline the way they notify
consumers about product recalls.
The Total Recall Act would
increase notifications for all
types of recalls by requiring
businesses to post recall notices
on their websites and on all social
media accounts. Currently,
the average response rate of
consumers for most recalls is
only between 4 and 18 percent,
according to Meng.
“Each year, businesses
launch nearly 30,000 new products,
but some of those items
may endanger the health and
safety of our families and our
homes,” Meng said. “We can’t
expect busy parents and consumers
to consistently check
for possible problems every
time they purchase a product.
If a company sells a dangerous
item, that company should
rightly be expected to market
the recall as aggressively as
they marketed the sale of the
product.”
Under Meng’s legislation, for
a mandatory recall, businesses
would be required to notify
the public by spending at least
25 percent of they money they
used for traditional marketing
of the product. For a voluntary
recall and settlement, companies
would be urged to notify
consumers by using at least 25
percent of the product’s original
traditional marketing budget
and 100 percent of the social
media marketing budget.
The bill will also mandate
that the Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC) provide
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an annual report to Congress
on participation rates for
each recall.
“An average recall response
rate between 4 to 18 percent is
not just unacceptable; it is irresponsible,”
Meng said. “Every
single day a family unknowingly
continues to use an already
recalled product, is a day
too long. The Total Recall Act
would ensure that companies
commit to effective and impactful
outreach on all recalled
products, and I urge all my colleagues
to support it.”
The Total Recall Act is endorsed
by the Consumer Federation
of America, Kids In
Danger, MomsRising, Public
Citizen and Safe Kids Worldwide.
“Improving recall effectiveness
is critical to ensuring that
unsafe recalled products are removed
from consumers’ homes
and children’s hands,” said
Rachel Weintraub, legislative
director and general counsel
with the Consumer Federation
of America. “Much more must
be done to make recalls actually
work and this bill would
require numerous necessary
steps to help to make recalls
more effective.”
Nancy Cowles, executive
director of Kids In Danger, a
Photo via Getty Images
nonprofit organization working
to ensure product safety for children,
said, “This bill will ensure
that recalls are more effective
in reaching families using the
product, and encouraging them
to participate in the recall.”
Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed
by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4526.
Legislation would increase
amount of notifi cations for
consumer product recalls
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