Action Needed Today

Help Stop CPSC's New Tip-over Rule

Join with the American Home Furnishings Alliance and other industry partners in their challenge to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's new Standard for Clothing Storage Units. The CPSC promulgated a standard so complex and ambiguous as to make it unenforceable. Further, the CPSC failed to perform a true-to-life cost/benefit analysis of the impacts of this new standard thus completely glossing over the fact that the rule will make new, compliant furniture cost-prohibitive for many consumers. Finally, the CPSC standard gave the industry a mere 6 months, requiring compliance by May 24, 2023. The AHFA supports a mandatory furniture stability rule to reduce the number of injuries and deaths associated with furniture tipping over and has worked hand-in-hand with parent groups and industry experts to develop a new ASTM stability standard that the recently passed STURDY Act requires CPSC to consider. Despite AHFA's efforts to get the CPSC to voluntarily stay the effective date of its new standard in light of Congress's passage of The STURDY Act, CPSC has refused to do so. This refusal directly undermines the will of the people through their duly elected representatives and inflicts massive costs on the industry and consumers.

Andy S. Counts
Chief Executive Officer
American Home Furnishings Alliance
www.ahfa.us

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[DATE]

Re: New CPSC Rule Outlawing Most Clothing-Storage Furniture as of May 2023

Dear [Representative],

I am writing in follow-up to my previous letter urging your action to stop the implementation of a Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) rule that will outlaw most existing models of clothing-storage furniture starting May 24, 2023. CPSC continues to ignore Congress' bipartisan passage of the STURDY Act last December, which requires CPSC to partner with industry and consider adopting the new ASTM 2057-23 voluntary standard for clothing-storage-unit stability. Parent-safety, consumer, and industry groups worked together to create and help finalize this voluntary stability standard, which is the most stringent in the industry's history. Yet CPSC insists on forging ahead with a different, far broader rule that requires significant and costly changes to nearly every model of clothing-storage furniture now on the market.

CPSC's failure to follow Congress' intended path is already having significant impacts on industry and the consumer during a time period of existing economic uncertainty. These impacts will only worsen as the May 24^th compliance date approaches and include:

Substantial cost increases in the manufacturing, fuel and shipping, packaging, and labor and home delivery of clothing-storage furniture.
Significant inflation on clothing-storage furniture.
More than 100 pounds on average in weight being added to current units, significantly increasing the potential for injures for anyone attempting to lift or move the units.
Industry being forced to utilize new, non-recyclable materials in packaging to protect heavier furniture during shipping.
Preventing US manufacturers from exporting affected furniture to other countries and loss of US jobs to overseas manufacturers.
Limited availability of affordable clothing-storage furniture for small retailers, which make up 97% of the furniture industry.
Product shortages and a substantial decrease in consumers' access to a range of safe, affordable clothing-storage furniture, particularly among children's products.
Confusion among consumers and harm to brands and retailers caused by a new requirement to include confusing and misleading stability-rating hangtags on all units.

Because of the above, and for numerous other reasons, I again urge you to help halt CPSC's misguided efforts. This request is extremely time sensitive and requires your immediate intervention.

Sincerely,

[First name] [Last name]