CPSC Acting Chair Ann Marie Buerkle debates CPSC Commissioner Marietta Robinson during a luncheon program at the ICPHSO Annual Meeting & Training Symposium.
On Wednesday, Acting Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Ann Marie Buerkle addressed more than 700 product safety professionals at the International Consumer Products Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO) Annual Meeting & Training Symposium in Orlando, Florida. Buerkle was tapped as the CPSC’s acting chair on February 10 and will succeed former CPSC Chairman Elliott Kaye.
In her address she thanked ICPHSO for its efforts to further product safety initiatives on a global basis and recognized PPAI’s former Board Chair Rick Brenner, MAS+, president of RFBrenner LLC, who assumed the presidency of ICPHSO during the symposium.
Buerkle also expressed appreciation to former CPSC Chairman Elliott Kaye for his leadership and pledged to continue his legacy by remaining open and transparent with the American public.
She relayed that the tone and energy in Washington, D.C., remain atypical, adding that the results of the presidential election indicate that the American people want the government to look, feel and work differently than it has in the past. However, she reminded her listeners that the CPSC is an independent agency and its focus on safety and data will not change regardless of who is in the White House. She stated that good regulators should be aware of what they are regulating, how they are regulating and its impact on the regulated community.
She also reiterated that it is essential that the CPSC continue to collaborate with consumers, and that her door is always open to efforts to collaborate to advance the call of product safety.
During Wednesday’s luncheon program, Buerkle, who is a Republican, also participated in a lively debate with Democrat Marietta Robinson, a CPSC commissioner.
Buerkle is well known to PPAI audiences. In 2015, she was the keynote speaker at PPAI’s Product Responsibility Summit in Bethesda, Maryland, where she shared insights and perspectives drawn from her role at the CPSC and her background as former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
