This year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says holiday shoppers can shop for toys with more confidence in the safety of the products.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, passed in 2008, puts more protections in place than ever before.

Protections include lower limits on the amount of lead that can be used in toys and third-party testing for certain products.

The new law imposes strict standards and allows the government and agencies to perform more of a watch dog role when it comes to products for children.

The government is also using more resources to enforce these safety laws than in the past.

This year, the CPSC got $105 million and it is hoping for $118 million next year.

"We are much more vigilant than ever before and the consumer product safety improvement act requires that toy makers and importers test to make sure the toys don't exceed the lead limit," says CPSC chairman Inez Tenenbaum.

The CPSC also recommends that shoppers follow the age ranges supplied by manufacturers for toys.

"Those ages are safety standards, not based on cognitive abilities," says Tenenbaum.

So far this year, there have already been fewer toy recalls than in the past.