Shutdown hurts commerce, product safety

Paul Davidson | USA TODAY

The federal government shutdown is halting aircraft deliveries, preventing the inspection of potentially dangerous imported products and impeding crash investigations, according to a Commerce Department report released Friday.

The 11-day-old shutdown is doing more than closing national parks and hobbling Head Start programs for kids. It's gumming up the wheels of commerce, product safety and national security.

"Agencies have been forced to suspend or cease many vital operations," the report said.

Among the effects:

• All of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's port inspectors have been furloughed, preventing the agency from screening thousands of products, including children's merchandise containing excessive lead and sleepwear that violates flammability standards.

• The Federal Aviation Administration's Aircraft Registry Office is closed, effectively shutting down aircraft deliveries. And FAA staff that certifies the safety of aircraft parts has been sharply cut, delaying shipments.

• The Federal Trade Commission is not receiving or processing complaints about consumer fraud.

• Both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board has suspended most investigations of accidents on roads and railways and in the air.

• The Maritime Security Program had to trim 10 vessels, reducing the fleet available to transport supplies to troops.

"Reductions in these fleets could hinder our ability to quickly deploy and sustain our forces," the Commerce report said.

• The furlough of biologists who determine fishing quotas at the National Marine Fisheries Service could jeopardize or shorten the king crab fishing season in Alaska and Washington. The season is slated to open October 15.

• Testing activities on the James Webb Space Telescope, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, have ceased because the National Aeronautics and Space Administration furloughed more than 17,000 employees. NASA has powered down a US-Japan weather research satellite due to ship in February.