CPSC OGC Advisory Opinion No. 55

DEC 2 l 1973

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Doa Early.

OSCA, Technical

Liaison

Division

O:.~ginal

sic~~d

by

Michael A. Brown, General

Counsel .Michael A. •Bro;un

Proposed

Reply to FTC Inquiry

What is Extent

of CPSC' s

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The Consimer Product

Safety

Commission (CPSC) has

jur-isdiction

to regulate

all

consun.cr products

that R-r~-semt an

unreasonable

risk

of injury

to the public.

"Consumer product:~' is __ _

defined

in section

3 of the Consw:ier Product

Safety

Act (15 U.S.C.

2052)

as:

11

•••

any article,

or component part

thereof,

produced

or distributed

(i)

for sal~

to a cons~r

for,

use in

or around a pem.anent

or tecpor~ry

household

or

residence,

a school,

in recreation

or othervise,

or

(ii)

for the person.al

~ise 1 connunption

or enjoyment

of a cons1.r.1cr in and around

a pcmanent

or teraporary

household

or res idcnce,

tL~,,..,.!:o~.tn~

k?'..

Th~ Comnissiou's

jurisdiction

extends

to any article

which is

produced or distributed

for

sale

toot

for the use,

consu;;i.ption or

enjoyr.i~nt of a consumer in or around a household

or residence,

a

school,

in recreation

or othcn;ise.

In order

for a product

to ba

classified

as a consuner

product,

it

is

not necessary

thnt

it

actually

be sold

to a cousur.ier.

but only

that

it be produced

or distributed

for

his

use.

Further,

product3

llhich

arc

prt::1arily

or e;:clus iv~ly

sold

to

"'ind~stt'fal

or institutional

buyers

would be included

•,,1ithin the

definition

111

1

of

consuraer

product

80 long

as they vere

produced

or distributed

for

use by consumers.

(P.. R. Rep. No. 92Cll53,

92d Cong.

2d Sess.

27 (1972)).

The Cono.ission

inteu<ls

to adhare

to the intent

of Congress

and afford

tha

term

"consu::1.:?r product"

as brond

:m intcrpret:'.!tion

as posi,dble

so .1s

not

to preclude

any areas

of regulation.

Thus•

the

term will

include

~ucn•

suraer

product

80 long

as they vere

produced

or distributed

for

use by consumers.

(P.. R. Rep. No. 92Cll53,

92d Cong.

2d Sess.

27 (1972)).

The Cono.ission

inteu<ls

to adhare

to the intent

of Congress

and afford

tha

term

"consu::1.:?r product"

as brond

:m intcrpret:'.!tion

as posi,dble

so .1s

not

to preclude

any areas

of regulation.

Thus•

the

term will

include

~ucn•.

products

as cement-asbestos

wallboard

which although

perhaps

not customarily

sold

to consuccrn,

is

produced

for

their

use and cnjo~cnt.

Further•

it

is

likely

that

soRe products

will

fall

within

the jurisdiction

of other

ar,cncics

such as N:.lSTAor OSHA. However.

if

the

item

in question

icay be used a.s a

consu::,~r

product,

c·,1en though

thut

my not

be its

predon.inaut

use,

it

f3lls

within

the jurisdiction

of the

Consu~r

Product

Safety

Com:::ission.

-2­

In response

to your other

questioo.s,

it is quite

possible

that

a

. product

of gTaat utility

vill

nevertheless

pose an "unreasonable

risk of

injury."

HOW'aver, the Cotlmission has not attempted,

at this

time,

to

provide

opecific

parameters

for the term, unreasonable

risk

of injury.

Rather,

it vi.11 proceed on a case-by-case

basis

in making this

determination.

MABrown:mli:12/18/73

cc:

A. Schoem

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