Laws and Regulations

Arguments against chemical regulation have been top of mind recently, with Congress holding its first hearings on the Safe Cosmetics Act; the FDA deciding against regulation of bisphenol-A in food packaging; and industry groups, NGOs and politicians continue to bicker over what, if anything will be done to update the United States' 36-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act. The odds seem to be stacked against large-scale reform of U.S. legislation, but that doesn't mean U.S. companies are off the hook when it comes to toxic chemicals.

The Quality Certification Alliance (QCA), the promotional product industry's only independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping companies provide safe products, has awarded QCA Accreditation to Hit Promotional Products, located in Largo, Fla.

The risk of blind trust and suppliers spreading themselves too thin.

It is an old adage in Washington that it is hard to take two steps forward without also taking one step back.

The 15 May entry into force of the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) provides the U.S. apparel industry with a front row seat on this particular Washington two-step.

PPAI announced that renowned product safety authority Dr. Carol Pollack-Nelson will be a featured speaker at its second annual Product Safety Summit (PSS) in New Orleans, August 14-15, 2012, at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel.

Inez Moore Tenenbaum is the chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which is responsible for protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from thousands of consumer products. She previously served as South Carolina's state superintendent of education, and practiced health, environmental and public interest law. Tenenbaum spoke with Tom Fox, who writes the Washington Post's Federal Coach Blog and is the director of the Partnership for Public Service's Center for Government Leadership.

The Quality Certification Alliance has negotiated with ink suppliers Marabu and Ink Cups Now (ICN) to test their entire lines used for promotional products manufacturing. Additionally, five other suppliers' inks that are frequently used by manufacturers of promotional products were tested.

In the four years since the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was signed into law, the promotional products industry has struggled mightily to figure out how to apply it to what we do every day. Nothing has come easily. Perhaps because most promotional products don't start out as children's products and perhaps because the "toys" we sell are mostly for adults, there always seems to be a "yes, but" when we try to understand CPSIA in the context of the world we live in.

How to build product safety into orders of $500 and under.

The Quality Certification Alliance announced that five companies have completed the QCA reaccreditation process: BDA, Broder Bros., Gemline, Leed's and Logomark.