Alexander Hoehn-Saric, chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has announced that he is resigning as chair effective January 21, 2025, although he will remain a member of the Commission. President Joe Biden nominated Hoehn-Saric to the role in 2021.
In a statement, Hoehn-Saric said: “It has been a privilege to lead this agency for more than three years and I am proud of what we have accomplished. I have devoted much of my career to consumer protection issues, so it has been gratifying to see many of the issues I and others worked on culminate in new policies that will protect babies, children, seniors, and families from product hazards for years to come.”
- Hoehn-Saric met with representatives from PPAI and its Product Responsibility Action Council in 2023 and spoke at PPAI’s Product Responsibility Summit in 2024.
During his tenure leading the CPSC, the agency was vigilant in enforcing the safety standards of products, rejecting the premise that a product is safe because it has made its way to the shelves of consumer stores. Accomplishments over the past four years include:
- Conducted 981 recalls and issued more than 114 product safety warnings to consumers.
- Issued 181,940 take-down requests to online marketplaces for recalled, banned or violative products.
- Intercepted 32 million violative items at U.S. ports.
- Assessed more than $125 million in civil penalties for violations of product safety laws.
“We have been incredibly productive over the past three years,” Hoehn-Saric says, “and I believe we have made real progress to protect the public,” recounting additional accomplishments including implementation of the Infant Sleep Products Rule and the Safe Sleep for Babies Act, as well as:
- Reese’s Law to reduce children’s access to button and coin cell batteries.
- Recalls of small, high-powered magnets to prevent potentially deadly ingestion.
- Measures to address risks posed by water beads.
CPSC Vice Chairman Peter Feldman will become acting chairman when Hoehn-Saric steps down. PPAI looks forward to working with Feldman to educate the agency about the $26 billion promotional products industry and to communicate what PPAI is doing to promote product safety and regulatory compliance.
“PPAI has met with Commissioner Feldman in the past, so we will look to build on that relationship,” says Rick Brenner, MAS+, president of Product Safety Advisors, who was instrumental in bringing Hoehn-Saric to the 2024 Product Responsibility Summit. “It is also gratifying to hear that Chair Hoehn-Saric will continue as one of the five CPSC commissioners.”
