Legislation Introduced to Exempt Books from CPSIA

By Karen Raugust -- Publishers Weekly, 3/26/2009 7:26:00 AM

U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-Nebraska) introduced legislation on Tuesday to exclude so-called “ordinary” books from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Other Congressional efforts seeking to amend the CPSIA have been introduced previously, including by Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), but this is the first to specifically address books alone.

While the Consumer Products Safety Commission has said it would not enforce the Act’s provisions for ink-on-paper or ink-on-board books printed after 1985, the publishing industry has been pushing for an outright exclusion, either from the CPSC or Congress. This legislation, if passed as written, would not discriminate between ordinary books printed before 1986 and those printed in 1986 and beyond; it would exclude them all and bring relief to libraries, sellers of used books, and thrift stores. Books with play value, such as book-plus and novelty titles, would still have to comply with all of the CPSIA’s safety, testing and labeling provisions. To read more on the CPSIA and how it has affected the book industry, click here and here.