Statement on Signing the Consumer Product Safety Commission Improvements Act of 1976.

THE CONSUMER Product Safety Commission was established in 1974 to protect consumers from unreasonable risk of injury from the use of hazardous products. Today, I have signed S. 644, a bill which will enable the Commission to more effectively carry out this important mandate.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission Improvements Act of 1976 expands the Commission's authority by permitting the issuance of preliminary injunctions to prohibit distribution of products which present a substantial hazard and by establishing new procedures and timetables within which consumer safety standards must be promulgated.

Further, the act authorizes Federal preemption of State product safety laws in certain enumerated circumstances. This will not only guarantee that consumers have adequate protection but will free industry from the costly burden of attempting to comply with a bewildering patchwork of State and local safety standards.

If consumer product regulation is to have real meaning, adequate tools must be provided the Commission responsible for protecting the American consumer. The act I have signed provides such tools.