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Edwards Campaign Press Release - Edwards Calls For Smart And Safe Trade Policies That Keep American Families Safe From Dangerous Imports

November 29, 2007

In letter to Toy Industry Association, Wal-Mart, Toys "R" Us, Target and Mattel, Edwards urges top toy company CEOs to stop putting short-term profits ahead of children's safety

Iowa City, Iowa – Today, in an address to the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, Senator John Edwards will highlight his proposals for smart trade policies that keep American children and families safe. As the Christmas shopping season enters full swing, Edwards will urge leading toy manufacturers and retailers to stop putting short-term profits ahead of the safety of American children and immediately ban all children's products that contain more than minute trace amounts of lead.

"Unsafe trade is putting American families at risk," said Edwards. "For too long, our trade policy has been written by special interests and big corporations, and has undermined the interests of hard-working Americans. While we've known for years that our current trade policy is costing us American jobs, this year - which may go down in history as the 'year of the recall' - too many American families are finding out that our trade policies are also exposing them and their children to unsafe drugs, food and toys.

"I have proposed a concrete and common-sense product safety reform agenda that will ensure the independence of Washington regulators, create strong safety standards including mandatory, independent third-party testing, and toughen penalties for corporate wrongdoing.

"American families shouldn't have to spend the holiday season worried about risks to their families' health. That's why I have called for the immediate resignation of the acting Consumer Product Safety Commission chair Nancy Nord and why I'm sending a letter to top toy manufacturers and retailers urging them to embrace reform and to work with parents, consumer advocates and Congress to pass the strongest possible safety laws."

Edwards has called for eight concrete steps to reduce the growing risk posed by unsafe imports and ensure the health of American children, including: 1) putting new leadership at the Consumer Product Safety Commission; 2) banning industry gifts to regulators, 3) closing the lobbyist revolving door; 4) empowering consumers with real-time recall and complaint information; 5) banning lead in children's products; 6) requiring independent testing; 7) stopping risky products at the border; and 8) providing the CPSC with the power and resources it needs.

To address the other devastating impacts that bad trade policies can have on workers and communities, Edwards will insist that our trade deals provide clear and measurable benefits for American workers - considering their impact on prices as well as wages and jobs. Instead of expanding the failed NAFTA model, Edwards will make sure we have a trade policy that puts the interests of America workers and communities at its core. He will only support trade policies that help workers, not just corporations, and lift up families around the world. Edwards' plan for smart trade builds on his comprehensive agenda to help American families through universal health care, fairer taxes, stronger unions and investments in innovation and skills.

For more information on Edwards' proposals for smarter trade and for his plan to protect American children from dangerous toys, please see the policy papers included below. Also included is a copy of the letter Edwards sent today the Toy Industry Association, Mattel, Target, Toys "R" Us and Wal-Mart calling on them to stand up and do what's right for America's children.


Letter from Edwards to Top Toy Manufacturers and Retailers

Carter Keithley, President

Toy Industry Association

1115 Broadway

New York, NY 10010

Robert Eckert, CEO

Mattel, Inc.

333 Continental Boulevard

El Segundo, CA 90245-5012

Lee Scott, CEO

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Bentonville, Arkansas 72716-8611

Bob Ulrich, CEO

Target Corporation

1000 Nicollet Mall

Minneapolis, MN 55403

Gerard L. Storch, CEO

Toys "R" Us

One Geoffrey Way

Wayne, New Jersey 07470-2030

November 28, 2007

More than 30 million toys recalled this year, demonstrating systemic weaknesses in our ability to ensure that children's toys and other products are safe. Some are calling 2007 "The Year of the Recall." As the holiday shopping season begins, Americans are rightfully concerned that they cannot trust toy makers, retailers, or Washington to put their interests first.

Publicity around the recalls has prompted companies to promise more aggressive testing, but two independent groups found last week that stores are still selling toys with high levels of lead and dangerous small magnets.

I have proposed a concrete and common-sense product safety reform agenda that will ensure the independence of Washington regulators, create strong safety standards including mandatory, independent third-party testing, and toughen penalties for corporate wrongdoing. I have also called on the Acting Chair of the CPSC, Nancy Nord, to resign. The nation's top consumer product watchdog should be someone who actually cares about consumer product safety, not a former industry lobbyist who has taken thousands of dollars in trips funded by the toy industry.

When Congress took up reforms this fall, the toy industry and retailers had a choice. They could work with members of Congress to overhaul our product safety laws and regain the trust of the American people or they could send in armies of lobbyists to fight the toughest reforms and maintain a broken system.

It is not too late to stand up and do what is right to protect American children. I urge you to embrace needed reforms to protect children and work with parents, consumer advocates and Congress to pass the strongest possible safety agenda, including prohibiting lead beyond minute trace amounts in children's products including toys and jewelry.

Yours sincerely,

John Edwards


Protecting American Children from Dangerous Toys

"We cannot rely on toymakers for voluntary steps or wait for the broken system in Washington to act. America's families and our children deserve immediate action." - John Edwards

More than 30 million toys recalled this year, demonstrating systemic weaknesses in our ability to ensure that children's toys and other products are safe. Quality and safety have been sacrificed in the race to reduce costs with foreign production. Manufacturing standards in countries like China - which alone accounts for nearly 80 percent of imported toys - are not enforced. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is led by a former industry lobbyist and has dragged its heels and actually opposed plans to strengthen its powers. Despite the publicity around toy recalls and promises of more aggressive testing, two independent groups found last week that stores are still selling toys with high levels of lead and dangerous small magnets. [CPSC, October 2007; NY Times, 9/29/07; SOPR, 2007; NY Times, 10/30/07; CEH, 2007; PIRG, 2007]

Today, as the Christmas shopping season begins, John Edwards wrote to leading toy manufacturers and retailers to urge them to stop putting short-term profits ahead of the safety of American children. Instead, these organizations must work with parents, consumer advocates and Congress to pass tough new product safety reforms such as the ones Edwards has proposed. Edwards' concrete and common-sense steps will reduce the growing risk posed by unsafe imports to American children. Edwards also renewed his call for the resignation of the acting CPSC chair Nancy Nord. [AP, 11/2/07]

The Edwards Plan to Protect Children

In Washington today, there are more than 60 lobbyists for every member of Congress. It is not surprising that the safety of drugs, food, and consumer products come second to corporate interests. To put Washington back on the side of regular families, Edwards will:

Put New Leadership at the Consumer Product Safety Commission: Officials responsible for product safety should look after families, not big corporations. Today Edwards called on President Bush to demand the resignation of Nancy Nord, the acting chair of the CPSC. Nord has accepted travel paid by the toy industry and opposes congressional efforts to strengthen the CPSC to protect Americans families from dangerous imported toys. [AP, 11/2/07]

Ban Industry Gifts to Regulators: Senior CPSC officials, including Nord, have taken $60,000 of "gift travel" from industry groups to places like China, Spain and a Hilton Head golf resort. Edwards will ban executive branch regulatory staff from accepting travel or gifts from private industry or their lobbyists. [Chicago Tribune, 5/5/2007; Washington Post, 11/2/07]

Close the Lobbyist Revolving Door: The last three Bush picks to head the CPSC have been former lobbyists and the most recent chair is now an industry consultant. Edwards will bar federal lobbyists from taking senior executive jobs responsible for issues they lobbied on and bar appointees from lobbying their former colleagues for five years. [Associated Press, 11/6/07]

Empower Consumers with Real-Time Recall and Complaint Information: The CPSC fails to disclose complaints and investigative reports to the public to give the manufacturers time to prepare their defenses. Edwards believes that we need to protect families first, not manufacturers, when deciding whether to disclose potential dangers. He will make it easier for consumers to register defects and risks and release consumers' complaints and recall information virtually immediately at a new website, "familysafetyfirst.gov."

We have an obligation to keep our children safe and healthy. Edwards proposed concrete and common-sense steps to that will reduce the growing risk posed by unsafe imports and ensure the health of American children. He will:

Ban Lead in Children's Products: The ingestion of any amount of lead is harmful. China banned the use of lead paint in toy exports after the recall of millions of toys this summer, but the U.S. has no power to enforce that law and the CPSC has refused to ban lead from children's products. As president, Edwards will ask the CPSC to prohibit lead beyond minute trace amounts in children's products including toys and jewelry. [CU, 2007; Best, 2007; Best, 2004]

Require Independent Testing: Edwards will require manufacturers and private-label resellers to certify that the children's products they sell have been tested to meet U.S. safety standards. Testing must be conducted by an independent third-party organization accredited by CPSC, and products that have not have been certified should be banned.

Stop Risky Products at the Border: Until effective independent testing of all toys is in place, Edwards will give the Customs Service and the CPSC the authority to detain shipments of toys containing paint or magnets without independent safety certification - just like the Food and Drug Administration temporarily detained Chinese seafood - and hold them until testing of a random sample demonstrates that they are safe. The FDA temporarily detained Chinese seafood, and the CPSC needs similar powers to protect children's safety.

Provide the CPSC with the Power and Resources It Needs: To deter even large companies from marketing dangerous products, Edwards will increase the maximum civil fine to $100 million. He will give CPSC authority to act far more quickly, rather than giving manufacturers 30 days notice while children's safety is at stake. Finally, he will double resources for the CPSC because enhanced safety certifications and temporarily increasing levels of inspection will require more resources and highly trained staff.


Smarter Trade that Puts Workers First

"Trade has become a bad word for working Americans for a simple reason: our trade policy has been bad for working Americans. We need new trade policies that put workers, wages and families first." -- John Edwards

After growing up in Carolina mill towns, John Edwards understands the devastating impact that bad trade policies can have on workers and communities. Even when jobs are not moved offshore, competition from cheap labor overseas holds down wages and benefits in the United States. And with Washington dominated by powerful special interests, it the benefits of our economic and trade policies are enjoyed by increasingly few individuals and multinational corporations. Over the last 20 years, American incomes have grown apart: 40 percent of the income growth in the 1980s and 1990s went the top 1 percent. If all Americans shared in prosperity to the same extent they did 30 years ago, families in the bottom 80 percent would be earning $7,000 more a year. [EPI, 2006; Summers, Furman and Bordoff, 2007]

Today, John Edwards described his "smart and safe trade" policies. Edwards believes that if you give American workers a level playing field, American workers will succeed in the global economy. He will make trade policies help workers as well as corporations, lift up families around the world, and build on other efforts to help American families such as universal health care, fairer taxes, stronger unions, and investments in innovation and skills. First and foremost, he will insist that the gains of any new trade deal be broadly shared, benefiting most families after considering its impact on jobs, wages, and prices.

Smart and Safe Trade

Be a Tough Negotiator, Unafraid to Reject Bad Deals: The American position in trade negotiations has been formulated behind closed doors with help from corporate lobbyists. Under the "fast track" procedure, Congress could not amend the resulting deals. Not surprisingly, trade agreements include special privileges for corporations, such as strong remedies for commercial rights and unprecedented rights to challenge environmental and health laws, but failed to protect workers. As president, Edwards will pursue trade deals that:

  • Make most families better off, considering its impact on jobs, wages, and prices.
  • Enforce labor rights -- including the right to organize and bargain collectively and prohibitions against forced labor, child labor, and discrimination - to prevent a global race to the bottom and help build a global middle class.
  • Protect the environment, preventing the exploitation of weak or poorly enforced laws and greenhouse gas commitments if necessary.
  • Clearly prohibit currency manipulation that puts American businesses at a disadvantage.

Demand a Level Playing Field for Trade: The U.S. Trade Representative is currently responsible for trade enforcement, but often neglects trade deals as soon as the ink dries. As a result, trade violations like subsidies are overlooked, unsafe products enter the country, intellectual property is pirated, and goods are counterfeited. Edwards will assign top prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice to the job of enforcing trade laws, including the stronger labor and environment standards he will negotiate. He will also go after illegal trade subsidies and insist that China and other countries move toward ending manipulation of their currencies, seeking WTO sanctions if necessary.

Eliminate Tax Incentives to Move Offshore: The U.S. tax code encourages multinational corporations to invest overseas by allowing them to indefinitely defer taxation on their foreign profits. In some cases corporations actually receive subsidies to invest overseas through a "negative tax." Edwards will eliminate the benefit of deferral in low-tax countries, ensuring that American companies' profits are taxed when earned at either the U.S. rate or by a foreign country at a comparable rate. [Grubert and Mutti, 2002; Altshuler and Grubert, 2001; Treasury, 2000]

Revamp Trade Assistance and the Safety Net to Help Dislocated Workers and Communities: Americans today are more likely to lose their jobs and less likely to receive unemployment benefits. For too long, the federal government has stood by while plant closings devastate entire towns. Edwards will fight for these workers and their communities, by modernizing unemployment insurance to cover 500,000 more workers a year and creating a new "Training Works" initiative tied to high-wage jobs. He will help communities recover quickly from mass layoffs with better advance warning and more resources to shore up the local tax base, plans for attracting family-sustaining jobs, and help for local businesses. [EPI, 2003; NELP, 2007]

Ensure the Safety of Imported Food, Drugs and Toys: Food imports more than doubled in the last decade and Americans eat 260 pounds of imported foods a year. Nearly 80 percent of children's toys are made in China, and recently Fisher-Price recalled almost 19 million toys made with high amounts of lead and dangerous magnets. India and China now supply the United States with more than 40 percent of the active ingredients for pills made here. [AP, 4/16/07; NY Times, 4/30/07; Toy Industry Association, 2007; CPSC, 2007; Washington Post, 6/17/07]

  • Enforce mandatory country-of-origin labeling on all food, increase inspections of imported food, and require the Food and Drug Administration to assess foreign nation's food safety systems.
  • Raise penalties for toy safety violations, require independent testing, authorize border detention and inspection of toys in high-risk categories and ensure the independence of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
  • Mandate the pharmaceutical industry to quickly implement non-forgeable electronic "track-and-trace pedigrees" to ensure that drugs stay safe at every step in the supply chain -- from factory to store and require sellers to prove that their drugs came from an authorized distributor.

John Edwards, Edwards Campaign Press Release - Edwards Calls For Smart And Safe Trade Policies That Keep American Families Safe From Dangerous Imports Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/294249

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