• The Washington Post , Friday, November 2, 2007 10:30 AM

Nancy Nord, acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the previous chairman, Hal Stratton, have taken nearly 30 trips since 2002 that were sponsored by lobbying groups and lawyers representing the makers of products linked to consumer hazards. The airfares, hotels and meals totaled nearly $60,000, and the destinations included China, Spain, San Francisco, New Orleans and a golf resort on Hilton Head Island, S.C.

CPSC officials defend the industry-paid trips as a way for the agency to be in contact with manufacturing officials and hear their concerns despite a limited travel budget. Commission spokeswoman Julie Vallese says the agency's counsel and its ethics officers conducted "a full conflict-of-interest analysis" of the trips and stand behind their decisions.

But several ethics experts and lawyers say the two administrators' travel records suggest a conflict of interest. Government-wide travel regulations state that officials from agencies such as the CPSC should not accept money for travel from nonfederal sources if the payments "would cause a reasonable person . . . to question the integrity of agency programs or operations."

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