CPSC & CPSIA new laws bad fo all handmade children's items

[#1]

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.
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 because it failed testing & needs to be reworked or wasn't tested yet. 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 unless they were previously tested. 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.

[Antiquebasketlady]

We need to comment NO LATER than Jan 30

http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/ComponentPartsComments.pdf

[Former_Member]

marking

[Former_Member]

Here is some hope, I found this article by the LA Times.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-taintedtoys25-2008dec25,0,5058994.story

[Former_Member]

I just found out about this and I can not believe it. I make hairbows and tutus. My question is how is the cpsc going to enforce this law wil smaller at home businesses? Are they going to have a rep at every craft show, making sure all the childrens items are certified? Are they going to come into our homes and make sure when a customer come to buy something that it is certified? are they going to track every item that is sold on ebay and etsy to insure it is certified? I mean seriously!! I would love to know how this is going to happen!!

[knotknotdotdotdot]

i too just heard about this. i'm a little blown away. i don't sell stuff for kids...but i am still super pissed off!! is it really true about second hand stores and garage sales not being able to sell kids' stuff anymore?? that sounds insane!!! i haven't read this whole thread so if this has already been answered, sorry!! also a handy petition link would be nice if you've got one! thanks!!

[Former_Member]

It's not too late to call, e-mail, or snail mail your state rep.
There are sample letters all over the net. It was very easy for me to do this morning. All I had to do was type in my address and it automatically brought up the appropriate reps for my area. Then, I read and signed the letter.

I'm sure I'll get another letter from Senator Casey again basically telling me to mind my own business and let the lawmakers do what is best for the country. That was the jist of the letter I got back after I e-mailed them about first stupid bailout they did.

I am so irritated with our government. And what do we do...just keep voting the same people back in! I was so hoping for an actual change in the congress this last election. It didn't happen.

[rakubuttons]

I wrote my congressmean and senators last night. There is a link here to find your rep's names.
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/how-you-can-help

[Charsbeads4U]

Has any of the Etsy staff commented on this subject?

[Former_Member]

I am wondering the same thing. Etsy staff?

[Former_Member]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-taintedtoys25-2008dec25,0,5058994.story

Toys makers cheer proposed lead-testing rule changes
Consumer Product Safety Commission staff members recommend that the agency exempt some natural materials from regulations that small firms feared could put them out of business.
Associated Press
December 25, 2008

.....Staff toxicologists at the product safety commission told agency commissioners in the memo that some unfinished natural materials should be considered lead free. The materials include wood and fibers such as cotton, silk, wool, hemp, flax and linen.

The commission still must vote on the recommendations.

"The agency is diligently working on providing rules that would define some exclusions and some exemptions," said spokeswoman Julie Vallese..........

[Former_Member]

I am so sad about this new law. Thank you for all of the information. As if the economy isn't bad enough, most of us will be put out of business because of this.

[YoYoCottage]

We can all thank China for this!

Years ago we had this problem in paints and all the lead in USA paints had been removed.

Ever since we started importing the cheap crap from China, we've hurt ourselves.

When will we ever learn?

[Former_Member]

In case some of you still need 'intellectual ammunition' to fight this law, here it is:

'The real question is if you, the American seller and buyer, are going to take this fascism lying down like sheep or not.

Our American governments (politicians and burocrats) are our servants, not the other way around like they seem to be developing themselves into now, illustrated in this law.

If I want the government to enslave me, make me dependent, so tell me what I can sell or buy and how, I would go live in Europe, where the sheeps live.

Don’t you all get it that if you let them ‘rule’ you now, they’ll get even more restrictive, shackling you even more, until you can not turn left nor right?

Don't you see the racket of these politicians and their burocrats?

They first make you totally dependent on them, by taking over your own responsibilities and then they will start restricting your privileges and offering you taxpayer funded handouts, so you can 'survive' the restrictions they imposed on you in the first place.

You will only need to 'vote' for these politicians and their burocrats in exchange, so they can remain in power and continue to enslave you.

Ask yourself what happens if the majority of taxpayers is made dependent like that. Who is going to foot the bill then, so provide the handouts, the bail outs?

Some deal with the devil this is.

And then these type of laws won’t be like walking away with your dollars from one web site which becomes restrictive, so full of rules, to another web site.

You won’t be able to sell anywhere if you do not fight this law restricting what and how you can sell (and its many comparable sister laws) to parents for their children.

Your politicians and their burocrats violate your right to do with your property what you judge to be right as a seller.

It is also an insult to buyers and violates their right to decide how to spend their money.

Buyers are basically told that they are too stupid to judge what products are good for their children and what not, so ‘much smarter’ politicians and burocrats will decide for you.

Don’t let your politicians and their burocrats fool you with their scare tactics and their ’it’s for your safety’ game.

That is how they lure you to give up your freedom gradually but definitely.

I thought most of us did not want this paternalism, these new 'King Georges' we disposed of at the American Revolution.

May you all be succesful in fighting this important fight.

Put the squeeze on your politicians. Show them these arguments and tell them that the clock is at a minute till midnight for them.

Write opeds in your local media illustrating these arguments.

You'll win and so will we all.'


Peter

[Former_Member]

Don't anyone give up. Keep talking about it, telling everyone you know, call your Congress folks AGAIN, call the press, join the facebook groups, just keep getting the word out. I have to believe wisdom will prevail.

[FayeMaloneDesigns]

Peter! Big smooch! You took the words right out of my mouth.

[Former_Member]

well said Peter!! :)

[Former_Member]

Activism against this irrational law should not be restricted to ‘calling the switchboard’. In fact that is just a small move, with little expected effect if any. The politicians and burocrats are counting on you doing just that and nothing else. Don't follow 'procedure' anymore, get innovative and more aggressive.

The politicians off late have been dodging voters calling and emailing, the typical ‘ostrich method’ of sticking one’s head in the sand and hoping that the problem, voters rebelling, is going to go away then, by rendering the voters ‘invisible’. It won’t. People get mad when they are rendered ‘invisible’.

A much better method, a way to say ‘hello, I’m here, can you see me?‘. is to expose these politicians’ (and their burocrats’) plans. Go public in any way you can, in writing and by speaking out. You have nothing to lose by doing so, only to gain.

Write opeds, in local and national newspapers and online. Offer yourself as an interview subject for journalists to illustrated the impact of the law (‘concretes’ like that will help readers and listeners feel the pain with you).

Bad guys, like these politicians and their burocrats are, do not like public exposure. They like operating in the dark, leaving their victims unaware of their intentions. Once they are exposed they usually flee.

Mention names of the politicians and their burocrats and the specific actions they are taking or planning to take, and use the principled arguments I gave above and any other to undermine them, to disarm them.

They won’t have any defensible answers to parry, because there are none.

Peter

[Sanguinaria]

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-natural-toy-makers

also, you guys could sign this petition.

[Former_Member]

Here is what I found on this link: http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/104faq.html#104q1

I came right off CPSC web site... I hope this helps!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

FAQs For Section 104: Standards and Consumer Registration of Durable Nursery Products
Will infants’ crib bedding, blankets, bath textiles, and apparel fall under the heading of “durable product”?
No. Congress did not define the term “durable,” but it is commonly understood to mean able to exist for a long time without significant deterioration. Cloth/textile items are generally not considered to be durable goods. None of the items Congress specified in section 104 as examples of durable products are items made entirely of cloth, rather they are primarily made from rigid materials (e.g., cribs, toddler beds, high chairs, strollers, bath seats).

[Former_Member]

hey, they have issued a press release clarifying that resellers are not going to be held to the same standards

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html

[Former_Member]

Here is a letter that was posted today!

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html

Good Luck!

Adrienne

[Former_Member]

has anyone heard anything about cloth diapers? I heard via grapevine that they had said something, but no details....

[Former_Member]

I'm reposting this from another thread--GREAT little pdf book made by fellow etsians: http://shalomscottagehome.com/Assets/Special%20Graphics/save%20handmade_book.pdf

[Former_Member]

SUPPORT HANDMADE KIDS

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5992703&page=5

[softandscrubby]

Cross posted from another forum about increased cost in materials if the manufactures of the materials had to test instead of us.

As far as the prices of our materials costing us more, it is no where near what it will be if we have to test it. Think about this senario. One batch of yarn would cost $40? to test. That batch of yarn makes 10000 skeins at an increased cost of less than a penny a skein. Those skeins are sent to stores throughout the country. My store has 10 of that dye lot. I buy 8 skeins @ $4 a pice because the baby blanket I make takes 4 skeins of that yarn. One entire blanket (no way I'd send more than a swatch, they're crazy) would need to be sent into a lab for $6 shipping plus $40 testing, in which they destroy my blanket. Now I can make one more blanket. My cost for making the blanket = $32 yarn + $6 shipping + $40 testing = $78. And it took me twice as long to make, where talking days with a blanket. And this is if I use just one color of yarn. Testing doubles for two colors, etc.

Now, if the company that made the yarn tested the dye my yarn would go up say 50 cents a skein (a little extra profit for the yarn company. Now, I can buy 4 skeins of one dye lot for $4.50 a skein and make one blanket at a cost to me of $18.

I was just guessing at the number of skeins one vat of dye would color. Even if it's only 1000 skeins, that's 4 cents per skein.