Despite 3 months of work, it is truly hard to say just what -- if anything -- is new, what is innovative and what is worthwhile in the Interagency Working Group on Import Safety's new "Action Plan." I guess what's new is they've got the president messaging on it. U.S. PIRG is particularly disappointed in the squishy, weasel-y language regarding safety certification of imported products. The way we read it, the administration is not supporting the concept that all imported children's products be subject to mandatory testing by a truly independent third party lab that is certified by the government for quality.

Also today, we joined Rachel Weintraub's testimony on behalf of her group, the Consumer Federation of America, and a coalition of organizations, in a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on its CPSC reform bill, HR 4040. At the hearing, subcommittee chairman Bobby Rush (D-IL) committed to moving forward within two weeks on on a vote on the legislation.