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Recalls and the Remediation of Hazardous or Defective Consumer Products: The Experiences of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Author(s) -
TOBIN RICHARD J.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of consumer affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1745-6606
pISSN - 0022-0078
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6606.1982.tb00176.x
Subject(s) - hazardous waste , commission , business , product (mathematics) , consumer safety , administration (probate law) , marketing , government (linguistics) , consumer protection , closing (real estate) , advertising , risk analysis (engineering) , engineering , waste management , finance , political science , commerce , law , linguistics , philosophy , geometry , mathematics
There have been many analyses of the nation's safety, health, and environmental programs, but relatively few studies of consumer protection programs. The present study attempts to add to the literature in this area by examining, through early 1982, the recall programs for hazardous or defective consumer products of two federal agencies: the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The analysis focuses on an evaluation of existing recall methods and their success in repairing hazardous products or in removing them from the marketplace. A review of several indicators of “success” suggests that a large gap exists between the set of all such hazardous products and the subset identified as hazardous and effectively acted upon by the two agencies. Some suggestions for closing this gap are noted and discussed.