A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) enforces compliance with mandatory federal safety standards, it is also required by law to rely on voluntary safety standards when it determines that the standard adequately addresses the product hazard and is likely to have substantial compliance. Voluntary standards—developed by industry, consumer, and government participants through a consensus process—cover many of the thousands of types of products in CPSC’s jurisdiction. Compliance with voluntary standards is not routinely tracked, but it is generally considered to be high by industry participants. Compliance with these standards also depends on industry and legal factors, such as retailer requirements to demonstrate proof of compliance with voluntary safety standards and risk of liability in product liability lawsuits."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal years 2006 to 2010, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) reported more than a doubling of National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) member agencies’ funding for nanotechnology environmental, health, and safety (EHS) research––from approximately $38 million to $90 million. Reported EHS research funding also rose as a percentage of total nanotechnology funding over the same period, ending at about 5 percent in 2010. However, GAO identified several reporting problems that raise concerns about the quality of EHS funding data reported. For example, for 18 percent of the 2010 projects GAO reviewed that were reported as EHS research, it was not clear that the projects were primarily directed at EHS risks. In addition, NNI member agencies did not always report funding using comparable data. The absence of detailed guidance on how agencies should report funding for their nanotechnology research has contributed to these problems, as GAO also reported in 2008 and made a related recommendation."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During our audit of CFPB’s fiscal year 2011 financial statements, we identified seven internal control issues that could adversely affect CFPB’s ability to meet its internal control objectives. We do not consider these issues to represent material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in relation to CFPB’s financial statements. Nonetheless, we believe they warrant management’s attention and action. These issues concern necessary controls to ensure"