U.S. product hazard reports are too late

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has been criticized for taking too long to tell the public about hazardous consumer products, a report said.

Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, conducted a study of 46 product recalls from 2002 to 2007, which resulted in companies being fined for late notification reports, the Washington Post reported Friday.

"In these cases where reports are coming in so late, you'd think the agency would release information quicker. Instead, it waited months and even years," said Taylor Lincoln, Public Citizen's Congress Watch Research Director.

The National Association of Manufacturers said Public Citizen's claims were inaccurate because it was only able to access 2 percent of CPSC recall cases open to public record.

"Public Citizen has produced a misleading analysis by cherry-picking the worst-case exceptions to product-defect reporting," spokesman Rosario Palmieri said.

Consumer advocates are reportedly attempting to pass a proposal that could make the agency's efforts to notify consumers of product dangers less difficult.