CPSIA

I know this has been all over the blog world lately and I haven't written about it yet. I wanted to get the information out there just in case there is anyone out there who has not heard about these problems or if you are looking for the links to get involved.

As many of you may already know the government has recently passed the CPSIA stating that all items that are meant for children 12 years or younger must be tested before they are sold. Here is a recap from handmadetoyalliance.org:

In 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to China and other developing countries violated the public's trust. They were selling toys with dangerously high lead content, toys with unsafe small parts, toys with improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.

The United States Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US. So, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and updating their molds to include batch labels. For small American, Canadian, and European toymakers, however, the costs of mandatory testing, to the tune of up to $4,000 per toy, will likely drive them out of business. And the handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007. Toy makers won't be the only ones impacted by the CPSIA, the thousands of US businesses who offer clothing, jewelry and other gifts for children --in essence-- the entire children's industry will be as well.

The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public's trust. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade toys will no longer be legal in the US.

Thriving small businesses are crucial to the financial health of our nation. Let's amend the CPSIA so that all businesses large and small are able to comply and survive!

After all the problems with lead paint found in toys imported from other countries this law was intended to protect children but in the end it is just going to put hundreds of small businesses out of business. They have started making changes saying that natural products like wood are allowed to be sold without testing, but if there is paint or any embellishing on your wooden toys it needs to be tested. This doesn't just hurt the toy manufacturers, this is going to affect the entire handmade industry. Please follow the links below to have your voice heard:

Sign this petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/handmadetoys/
Read more about CPSIA here:
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/Home
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia
http://www.coolmompicks.com/savehandmade/