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I posted this originally at ETSY NJ & plan on posting it everywhere I can.
The CPSC & CPSIA new law guidelines effect most of us - sign or start a PETITION NOW.
So all of us should support each other and stand united to get exclusions or amendments or extensions for compliance referencing USA handmade products and small batch items to this new law by writing to our public officials. Even if none of your items are made directly for children ... Can you imagine an ETSY, FireArt, 1000 Markets, a local craft show or eBay without any children's items in it?
This is effectively THE WORLD'S LARGEST CHILDREN'S PRODUCT RECALL ever imagined. But without the option of returning the items for refund or replacement.
THIS NEW CPSIA WILL EFFECT ALL OF US that sell ANY products that can be consider for children. Not just toys and jewelry, but CLOTHING, ROOM DECOR, SCHOOL SUPPLIES, EDUCATIONAL AIDS, ART WORK, ART SUPPLIES, PILLOWS, HAIR BOWS so on & etc. if it is made for someone 12 & under to use it will be subject to the certified testing. Even HAND-ME-DOWNS as resales or vintage items will be subject to the testing. To read the whole "brief", 67 pages long, requires some basic law education but you can get the gist of it in the CPSIA's FAQ section http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/faq.html#educational
This new law is blindsiding us by giving very little notice to comply to it, if we're even able to provide the proofs the the CPSC wants. It's been so under the radar the ETSY doesn't have a STORQUE article on it yet. Niether has eBay or most of the other online seller's outlets even mention the new law. I think there waiting for after the holidays to tells us that lots of the items we bought are now effectively illegal and that we should of never given them to our children in the first place. There should be some type of grandfathering clause included that parents shouldn't have to shell out more good money if they feel their child is in danger just because the government said the product is not longer safe.
This will put quite a few of us out of business. Even larger companies are having problems complying with the deadline or the batch material testing requirements. Here a set of excerpts from a recent CPSIA hearing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUlY6zOMPqQ, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlMh7MJiodY&feature=related, & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk0Vr0yDrXc&feature=related.
Don't just believe that the legislation will change on it's own, do something to let your voice be heard. Write a congressperson, tell ETSY what you feel about this law, blog about it, just get your voice heard by CPSIA that the law is impractical and bias towards small & cottage industries. People for a Greener Earth should also take up this issue since it will put an end to reusing durable children's products outside of the immediate hand me down process, sending tons of good resalable items to landfills.
Many items that were legal this holiday season will be banned come Feb. 10, 2009 regardless of if the child's product was a handheld video game by a super multinational corporation, a made in the USA pair of jeans from a local mom & pop retailer, or one of the fantastic wooden toys available at ETSY shops. This means it would even be illegal and punishable by fines and jail time to resell or reuse, outside your own home, those items in anything that that would be for a child. So no one, even a consumer looking to green up the Earth a little, could list a child's items as vintage piece at ETSY or a sell it as used on eBay or at a garage sale without it having the the testing done.
Generals threads for any one :
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5938698
http://www.ipetitions.com/
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?messageID=511163411&forumID=124&x#511163411
for toy makers :
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/
http://grecowoodcrafting.wordpress.com/
for children's clothing, doll clothes, hair bows, and accessory makers :
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5935443
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/
If you know of any more threads and sites that address the issue PLEASE post them here. To be informed is to be forewarned. Especially if this means you will have to close shop and retool your business towards something that doesn't deal with any children's products.
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6 comments:
Hi, you should be including Fashion-Incubator.com which has been at the forefront of getting the word out (those etsy and petition writers are from my forum). I just returned last night from a meeting in Washington DC with the biggest brands in the business. You can find the latest at http://www.fashion-incubator.com
complete bullsh**t! i have been sending letters to the news, senators, govenors...
If you want to try to interpet the law yourself here are some goverment links, and it is a LAW as of August 2008.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpsia.pdf
http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/CPSC-CH-E1001-08.pdf
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/newfaqs.pdf
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/faq.html#educational
http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/advisory/317.pdf
or try
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Then search:
H.R.4040
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate)
This is not pending legislation it was voted on & passed by the House and Congress in July and signed to law by Bush in Aug. So unless we can get ammendments to the law as it is ambiguously written all hand crafters might be effected since the government seems to be leaving the definition of children's products upto the venue of public opinion.
Also it seems that there are represenatives of the people that had no idea that handcraft items would be sold across statelines.
From somebody on the Etsy forums:
"I called and left a message a few weeks ago concerning those of us in the cottage industry and the ramifications of this new regulation. I got a call back today.
1. There is the impression that we crafters are NOT selling across state lines. There is an exception/ exemption to the testing rule if you are only selling locally. I had to explain to the representative that was not the case for me or others like me. Since we are selling across state lines the lab testing rule applied.
2. If you are making a product and you will be making them in different colors and styles, then testing one item will suffice as long as they are made out of the same materials. So, if you make baby booties out of cotton, felt, and leather then as long ad you use the same material for that product line then you do not have to test each one.
3. Congress is meeting again next week concerning this new regulation. I was told that the only recourse was for us to contact our congressman/ women directly and let them know the impact this new regulation would have on the small business/cottage industry and that we simply cannot afford this and still survive."
Update the meeting is canceled with no rescheduling as of 12-7-08.
If nothing else CALL your congress folks and let them know what they are doing to us. Here's links to do that :
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx
I put a link from my blog on this and I just made my first ever video and put it on You Tube - this issue concerns me as a mom, a citizen and a business owner manufacturing handmade for children in America. If you can send anyone to the questions I raise - ones the media is not giving any time to by my observation - and my video, I'd be greatly appreciative. Who needs parents when we have a growing big brother doing things "for our own good" and giving another helping hand to big business at the expense of "alternatives" provided by people who care about our children, environment and more. Thank you for your post on this -
My You Tube video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY00aOkeKeQ
My first blog post (that links to yours) was on Jan. 3 and my second is at the top - posted Jan. 10 - http://www.tristansepinion.blogspot.com
THANKS and warmest regards,
Tristan Benz
Maiden America
www.maidenus.com
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