Handmade gets a break

A lot of rumors have been going around about the CPSIA. Ali says some of them are true. So does the Consumer Product Safety Commission. (They would know.)

Lead restrictions will still tighten (which is good!), but those expensive certification requirements have been postponed for a year (also good!), giving Congress time to reconsider.

Did you hear that? I think a whole bunch of crafters, parents, small retailers (and maybe some toys) breathed a huge sigh of relief.

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Photo by Funky Shapes.

CPSIA response

I didn't really expect a response when I emailed my senators about the CPSIA. Especially not one in my mailbox.

But there it was, on official U.S. Senate stationery, a response from Jon Kyl. It said:

Thank you for your email letting me know of your concerns about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (H.R. 4040).

I share your concerns and was one of just three Senators to vote against it.

So only three senators voted against it, and one of them was from my state. And takes the time to respond to people. Pretty sweet, huh?!

CPSIA update

About the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act), I was misinformed regarding the public comment deadlines.

There is still time to speak up for the small businesses who won't be able to shoulder the burden of this overly stringent regulation!


The law is supposed to go into effect February 10 of this year, but there is a lot of opposition to it. I mean A LOT.

It's been called "National Bankruptcy Day", because of the sheer number of small companies - natural children's products manufacturerers, makers of handmade toys (including home crafters), and many others - it could put out of business.

It would not apply in the same way to second-hand stores, and certain materials have been exempted. However, as it stands now, it would still have wide-ranging unintended consequences for small businesses that have never used excessive amounts of lead in their children's products.


There's a fabulous post at Rocks in my Dryer, which explains more about what the CPSIA is, who it will affect and how both businesses and consumers will be affected.

For links to more articles and information, you can check out my CPSIA bookmarks.


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Photos: 1) by cathy cullis. CCL. 2) by scrapbit. CCL.

Speaking up for small business and children's safety

When it comes to the issue of the CPSIA (remember? new lead testing standards for children's products that are so strict they'd hurt many businesses), I haven't had time to look into it as much as I would've liked.



Here's the thing. Today is the deadline for public comment. Ready or not, even if we think we might want to speak up, today is the day to do it.

Here's what to do:

1. Go to the contact forms for your Representative(s) and Senators (for Arizona voters, that'd be Jon Kyl and John McCain.)
2. Fill out your name, etc.
3. Under "message," briefly type out your thoughts on the CPSIA or use a form letter.
   

I decided to go for it, even though I don't know as much as I'd like, and I certainly don't have all the answers. I just took a few minutes to voice my concerns. If enough of us do this, they'll re-examine the legislation. Here's what I wrote:

As a business owner, I am concerned that the CPSIA is more stringent than necessary when it comes to testing standards. I believe it is possible to keep children safe from lead poisoning without such extreme measures.

The testing required would be far too costly for many small businesses, especially at a time of economic crisis when retail sales are down and credit is hard to come by.

Also, with huge corporate layoffs and unemployment numbers climbing, many individuals are starting their own companies. Why limit their options unnecessarily?

I am glad to hear that some natural materials have already been exempted.

Please request that the CPSC consider further exemptions or revisions to the CPSIA, especially as it relates to small and micro-businesses.
- Could materials (paint, etc.) be tested rather than final products?
- Could small business get a one-time or annual certification proving their processes do not add lead to their products?
- Could we look at standards in Europe and Canada and determine whether they are rigorous enough on their own that products would not need to be re-tested once they are imported to the U.S.?

I appreciate your time and consideration of this matter.

See? Not perfect. Not complete. But making my voice and my concerns heard.

Your turn.



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Photo by me. Llama ornament by my talented sister-in-law Elizabeth.

Do we need to save handmade toys?

The first thing I read about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) sounded like uninformed panic. (No, it wasn't on your blog, I promise.)

So I kind of ignored the whole deal for awhile. But then I started hearing about it from people who had rational concerns. I thought I'd better see what the fuss was about.



Megan at SortaCrunchy summarizes the issue nicely:

In response to the alarming number of toy recalls in 2007 in which toys that contained dangerous amounts of lead and other harmful chemicals or posed other safety risks to our children were pulled from store shelves, the United States Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August 2008. This act is certainly a first step towards protecting our children from harmful or dangerous products in that it mandates more rigorous testing of the toys we allow into our homes.

The CPSIA, however, would also impose such a terrible financial burden on any maker of toys that small, cottage-industry toymakers in the USA, Canada, and Europe will be driven out of business.

So I'm looking into it further. And, of course, I'll let you know what I find out. But it sounds like handmade toys might need us to come to their rescue after all.


P.S. In case you're wondering about Bold Avenue - we checked on this, and the company that handles the printing/fulfillment of our baby and kids products does have a product testing program in place.

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Photo by me.