The U.S. Senate, responding to a spate of recalls of Chinese-made goods, voted to require more product testing and raise fines tenfold on the makers of unsafe goods as part of an overhaul of consumer safety laws.

 

The Senate's 79 to 13 vote on March 6 sets up a political clash because it contains provisions that the Bush administration opposes and the House of Representatives left out of its version. The disputed provisions include an expansion of whistleblower protections and the creation of a new database of complaints.

 

The act calls in an open database about consumers’ complaining, so as to aid Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to confirm the safety level of incoming products. Information of injuries, illness or even death would be collected from citizens, hospital and other resources.

 

In addition, the act will restrict lead in kids’ products and set up new standard for toy safety, which will go further than the bill that approved by House of Representatives last December. Bush government, along with some opposers, says such a database is unfair to maker. Some Republican members also argue against some of the stricter standard in Senate’s act. They belive it requires some time to harmonize Senate’s act with the one of House of Representatives in divarication and hence the legislation will be postponed.