Safety-standards bill for toys is approved by House panel

A House panel approved legislation to expand safety standards for toys, prohibit industry-funded travel by staff of the consumer safety agency and allow state attorneys to enforce federal safety laws.

Lawmakers said the measure, passed in a voice vote by the consumer subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, was aimed at forcing the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ensure that dangerous toys are kept off store shelves.

"The fact that the CPSC has been such a lame agency has driven this process," Representative Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, said after the vote.

Interest in product safety has heightened after recalls of tainted pet food ingredients, poisonous toothpaste and lead-based paint on toys linked to imports, mainly from China. Democrats accused the Bush administration and CPSC acting chairman Nancy Nord of ignoring the threat from surging imports and allowing dangerous products to escape scrutiny.>