As reported from the Milan international pharmaceutical manufacturers' trade show this year, the practice (of unregulated general chemical manufacturers marketing to the pharmaceutical trade, even after indictments) is widespread. Excellent, in-depth article from the New York Times here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/world/asia/31chemical.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

It's interesting to note that the Bush administration *objected*, in the face of this evidence as well as all the recent pet food, toothpaste, and toy scandals, to a unanimously-supported Senate committee resolution strengthening the authority of the Consumer Products Saftey Commission and increasing its budget and staff in order to investigate and regulate supply chains.

Regards,
Nydia

I think what you're looking for is the FDA, not the CPSC.

http://www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/advance/fdaaa.html

Even more reason Canadian drug imports should continue to be banned.

Dear Furtivus:

Somehow I just *knew* you'd come up with a reply that implied that I was somehow 'confused' ;). I am aware of the difference between the FDA and the CPSC (the FDA investigative trips are mentioned in the article I linked); and sorry if my reference to a tangentially related piece of legislation was potentially confusing. I was referring to the CPSC Reform Act of 2007, S. 2045:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-2045

Discussion of said bill here (audio, via NPR):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15799857

and text (from the New York Times, and a press release from a supporting organization, as well as the Democratic Senate Caucus) here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/business/06consumer.html

http://www.uspirg.org/news-releases/product-safety2/product-safety-news/masspirg-applauds-senate-commerce-committee-passage-of-comprehensive-product-safety-bill

http://www.democrats.senate.gov/journal/entry.cfm?id=286556&

Regards,
Nydia

P.S. Before you 'remind' me regarding the fact that the strictly pharmaceutical end of this whole chemical supply mess *is* FDA territory, I'd like to refer you to my first post and the 'Bindeez' thread that precipitated this one. Toothpaste, pet food, toys, and many other consumer products not under the strict jurisdiction of FDA are affected by this and other regulatory loopholes, hence the significance of S. 2045, and I expect that a similar piece of legislation will need to be enacted to cover the USDA end of things as well.

Why not post your CPSC links in that thread where it is more germane? I don't know if toothpaste falls under the jurisdiction of the FDA -- certainly you could reach a level of flouride where it would be regulated.

Or combine your threads and post about overall import safety:

http://www.importsafety.gov/report/actionplan.pdf

Looks like toothpaste does fall within FDA jurisdiction:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/toothpaste.html

An addendum that really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but juxtaposed with all the 'Ron Paul 2008' stickers I've seen pasted all over my neighborhood, pushed me to a boiling point this afternoon (along with several other things, including reading more on the Higazy case, Schumer and Feinstein capitulating on the Mukasey nomination, etc):

I had to go to the Walgreens for First Aid supplies today, as I had cut the muscle on the underside of my left index finger open removing broken glass from a suitcase, and I noticed among the store brand and other choices for bandages some (Johnson and Johnson, iirc) that were made of stretchy fabric (good for fingers) and pre-treated with antibiotic ointment. I turned the box over and you guessed it... made in China. I took a survey of the 25 or so bandage choices and *all* of them were made in either China or Brazil, or no origin was listed at all - merely 'Distributed by...'

Finally in a corner I spied a box of (very expensive) 3M flexible fabric strips that were made in the US (5.50 for 30) and picked them up and went on to look for a disinfectant. They were out of povidone iodine and the peroxide, ethyl and isopropyl alcohol all contained no information on their origin at all, just "Distributed by..." I took my bandages home and made do with soap and warm water and some antibiotic ointment I had laying around the house.

People should be aware that when they see this type of label in this day and age that not only do *you* not know where the ingredients in that bottle/package came from, there is a fair chance that the distributor doesn't, either, and that's a scary thought.

/rant on)

It's days like this this that I want to tell these Ron Paul libertarian yahoos I keep running into to go fuck themselves. Waiting until the bodies start washing up for the market to 'correct' itself might be the most 'pragmatic' approach in their eyes, but is that an even remotely plausible mechanism in a day when any prayer of identifying the responsible agents, much less holding someone accountable for such things, is a joke?

Many of these folks are the same people who have no idea why it is that they don't die horribly of bacterial or chemical poisoning every time they bring home and consume something from the supermarket, or catch a myriad of diseases every time they turn on their tap or the buildings they're occupying don't collapse or catch fire when a stiff breeze comes up, or poison them either. Sure, we *could* choose to live in a world where the law of the jungle prevailed and it's caveat emptor for everything, but I don't think that the overwhelming majority of folks, if all the layers of things that are provided for them by organized government (most of which aren't 'things', per se) were stripped away tomorrow, would be so keen on it once they'd had to live with the reality of what that would *really* mean in the modern world.

And, finally, to Furtivus, Canadian drug regulations are the equal of, and in some cases superior to, ours; the people crying for a ban on Canadian drug imports are primarily concerned about protecting *profits*, not people.

/rant off)

Regards,
Nydia