Consumer Safety Regulation

Advocates of consumer safety regulation, an active and controversial area of public policy in the United States, contend that markets do not adequately protect the interests of vulnerable consumers; market traditionalists respond that public agencies increasingly make risk/safety decisions that individual citizens ought to be making for themselves. This book, written by an economist, critically assesses the rationales for, and the effects of, our major consumer safety programs. Addressed to a general audience, and incorporating relevant literature on cognitive psychology as well as economics, the author argues that although legitimate reasons for public protection of consumers exist in some markets, the particular programs we adopt often produce results that fall far short of what their advocates desire, and at least occasionally yield perverse outcomes.

On World Food Day in October 2008, former president Bill Clinton finally accepted decade-old criticism directed at his administration's pursuit of free-trade deals with little regard for food safety, child labor, or workers' rights. "We all blew it, including me when I was president. We blew it. We were wrong to believe that food was like some other product in international trade." Clinton's public admission came at a time when consumers in the United States were hearing unsettling stories about contaminated food, toys, and medical products from China, and the first real calls were being made for more regulation of imported products. Import Safety comes at a moment when public interest is engaged with the subject and the government is receptive to the idea of consumer protections that were not instituted when many of the Clinton era's free-trade pacts were drafted. Written by leading scholars and analysts, the chapters in Import Safety provide background and policy guidance on improving consumer safety in imported food, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and toys and other products aimed at children. Together, they consider whether policymakers should approach import safety issues through better funding of traditional interventions—such as regulatory oversight and product liability—or whether this problem poses a different kind of governance challenge, requiring wholly new methods.

This book explains how revamped consumer protection regulations, allowing greater individual choice, along with the government partially shifting to more of an advisory role, can save many thousands of lives annually, and make medicines and other products radically cheaper. Major case studies include the FDA, TSA passenger screening, and Uber versus taxis.

Published in 1998, this book seeks to analyse in a comparative framework laws relating to product safety. These include standard setting, general safety obligations, (enforcement agencies), recall of products, export control, product accident monitoring and information exchange systems. The countries studied will include UK, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, as well as EC law in the light of the recent EC product safety directives.

How safe is our food supply? Each year the media report what appears to be growing concern related to illness caused by the food consumed by Americans. These food borne illnesses are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, pesticide residues, and food additives. Recent actions taken at the federal, state, and local levels in response to the increase in reported incidences of food borne illnesses point to the need to evaluate the food safety system in the United States. This book assesses the effectiveness of the current food safety system and provides recommendations on changes needed to ensure an effective science-based food safety system. Ensuring Safe Food discusses such important issues as: What are the primary hazards associated with the food supply? What gaps exist in the current system for ensuring a safe food supply? What effects do trends in food consumption have on food safety? What is the impact of food preparation and handling practices in the home, in food services, or in production operations on the risk of food borne illnesses? What organizational changes in responsibility or oversight could be made to increase the effectiveness of the food safety system in the United States? Current concerns associated with microbiological, chemical, and physical hazards in the food supply are discussed. The book also considers how changes in technology and food processing might introduce new risks. Recommendations are made on steps for developing a coordinated, unified system for food safety. The book also highlights areas that need additional study. Ensuring Safe Food will be important for policymakers, food trade professionals, food producers, food processors, food researchers, public health professionals, and consumers.