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If a company sells a dangerous item, that company should rightly be expected to market the recall as aggressively as they marketed the sale of the product,” Rep. Meng said.
By Forum Staff
A bill introduced Tuesday in the House of Representatives would require businesses to strengthen and streamline the way they notify consumers about product recalls, according to U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), sponsor of the Total Recall Act.
Meng noted that currently the average response rate of consumers for most recalls is only between 4 and 18 percent. She said her legislation would increase notifications for all types of recalls by requiring businesses to post recall notices on their websites and on all social media accounts. For a mandatory recall, businesses would be required to notify the public by spending at least 25 percent of the money they used for traditional marketing of the product. For a voluntary recall and settlement, companies would be urged to notify consumers by using at least 25 percent of the product’s original traditional marketing budget and 100 percent of the social media marketing budget. The bill would also mandate that the Consumer Product Safety Commission provide an annual report to Congress on participation rates for each recall.
“Each year, businesses launch nearly 30,000 new products, but some of those items may endanger the health and safety of our families and our homes,” Meng said. “We can’t expect busy parents and consumers to consistently check for possible problems every time they purchase a product. If a company sells a dangerous item, that company should rightly be expected to market the recall as aggressively as they marketed the sale of the product.”
