Inez Tenenbaum, the Consumer Product Safety Commission chairwoman, announced in an address Thursday to the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization that she will not seek renomination, the agency said.
Tenenbaum, of Lexington, S.C., was appointed to the position by President Barack Obama in June 2009 and says that after four years, she is ready to pass the baton.
“I have given this agency every bit of my time and dedication and we have made unprecedented progress at the agency, especially in terms of implementing the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act,” she said in an interview.
Since the implementation of the act in 2008, the CPSC has completed 40 final rules regarding children’s products. According to a CPSC news release, some of those regulations include cribs, infant bath seats, infant walkers, toddler beds and infant swings.
During her time as chairwoman, Tenenbaum also helped create the Office of Education, Global Outreach, and Small Business Ombudsman, which, according to its website, “was established to coordinate and carry out education and outreach activities to domestic and international stakeholders.” She is also responsible for helping to establish the commission’s first overseas office in Beijing.
Although Tenenbaum’s poised to leave in October, she may be required to stay for an extra year if a new chairman hasn’t yet been appointed.
In her previous political experience Tenenbaum, a Democrat, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2004. She served as South Carolina’s superintendent of education from 1998-2006.