CPSIA DEADLINE on Feb 10 are you all going OUT OF BIZ for kids stuff?

[Former_Member]

Friends and ALL makers of products for the under-age 12 set--

WTH are we going to do about THIS????
As of Feb 10, 2009, we are required to have ALL fabrics and materials used in our products safety-tested for lead content by a third party test laboratory. If you sell products for the under-12 age group after Feb 9th you are subject to fines of 100K per the Consumer Products Safety Comission. I heard about this first at ABC Kids this year but had no idea the deadline for selling untested items would be this soon. There are various petitions going as this effectiveloy puts thousands and thousands of small business owners out of business on Feb 10th. And we at Etsy are highly visible sellers. The cost for fabric lead testing at an ASTM-certified test laboratory is too high for any but the largest companies.

Basically, we cannot sell our stuff anywhere, anyhow in the US after Feb 9th, 2009--two MONTHS! So what do we do besides sign a petition? And why haven't I heard anything about this on the forums until now (or have I missed it)?

Here is the link to the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/e...SIA/index.html

And it is also being discussed on:
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/
http://cpsia-central.ning.com/
http://nationalbankruptcyday.com/
http://www.challengeandfun.typepad.com/
http://www.apparelandfootwear.org/

[Former_Member]

The easiest of the above articles to understand is Kathleen Fasanella's post on www.nationalbankruptcyday.com .

Note: you cannot accept certification done by your suppliers (ie Michael miller, Fastnap, Alex Henry, Gutermann ect.) AND if you continue to sell and ever get sued, your insurance will not cover you if your products are not in compliance as of Feb 9.

Here is a list of names at the CPSC where we can appeal and ask for less stringent measures that would not shut us all down: http://capwiz.com/toyassociation/dbq/officials/agencies/?id=4886&dir=toyassociation&command=depresul...

[Mulchandmore]

I don't make kids things at this time, but how does this affect supplies that can possibly be used for kid products? I need to investigate.

[Former_Member]

Good thing for you...a lot of companies that were thinking of branching out are now not going to.

I don't know how it affects the suppliers--I think that they will be required to test their supplies if they supply children's manufacturing companies. The thing is, we can't use the suppliers' certification even if they do get one! We have to go and certify each variation of our product--each component--on its own. And that's about $1000 per dress for me right now.

[Former_Member]

This is scaring the crap out of me. I just started out, and it's going really well. I have plans for making it bigger and moving into wholesale to upscale children's boutiques... But honestly, Feb 10th I'm out of business!

I'll be writing my congressman every day before then though.

Anyone out there who makes anything for anyone under the age of 12 is affected by this!!!

[Former_Member]

Wow, this seems to be going overboard... does fabric actually contain lead?

[Former_Member]

Gosh this is a bit overwhelming! And so very serious! I am just getting started, so I can't let this get in the way of my plans. Maybe I can take this to Score when I go and see if they can help with all of this?

[Former_Member]

As long as you buy and use only certified lead-free materials, it won't be an issue for crafters of children's goods. It's not the crafter that bears the weight of this legislation, but the suppliers of the materials used.

No need to worry, unless you make your own materials. If so, just get them checked and certified. No biggie!

[Former_Member]

Lobbyists consolidating their market, eliminating the little guy with legislation.

Go figure. Surprise surprise.

Don't waste your time posting on the Etsy message board.

Write to your Congresspeople and Senators. Voice your opinion to those who can actually do something about it.

[Former_Member]

Checked and certified = expensive. It is actually a biggie.

[Former_Member]

Differing opinions here - is the burden of truth on the supplier or the seller?

[Former_Member]

I think if you suppliers are certified, doesn't that make your items certified? Sounds like what the bath & body category will go through next year with the fdz globalization act.

[Former_Member]

FDA rather. We really need an edit button.

[Former_Member]

Has this already passed? Will writing Senators affect anything or is it too late?

[Former_Member]

I can see that it might be a biggie for a supplier, especially if they import from other countries. What I meant was that it doesn't affect the crafter of children's goods in a major way.

We're talking about lead in children's toys, which IS a biggie, so the inconvenience to sellers of cheap imports has to be weighed against the need to keep children safe.

I feel for those of you whose sales of supplies depend on super-cheap imports from less closely regulated countries, honestly. But that doesn't mean I want to compromise the quality of materials used in North America.

Cheaper is not always better, if it poses a known risk to anyone, particularly the most vulnerable in our society - children.

[Former_Member]

It goes into affect on Feb 10... writing your representatives will help.

The way it is written now, you cannot rely on testing results supplied to you from your vendors. Each manufacturer (and yep, we're all considered manufacturers even though we're small) has to have their end product third party tested.

See this link for more info:

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/national-bankruptcy-day/

[Former_Member]

JUST TO PUT A FEW THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE...

- these regulations have been on the books for children's toys for some time now. Do you see people not selling children's toys on etsy? No.

- The CPSC has enough trouble trying to police the major mfrs (Hasbro, Mattel, RC2, etc) for *toy* guidelines plus all the little guys and imports, and now they have to police children's wear too? Are you kidding?

- I'm not condoning selling unsafe things in the children's market, or not saying that there isn't a potential risk of harm to consumers or to shops for being sued. But to put things a bit more in perspective, you could get sued for just about anything (a child swallowing a button, snap, applique, etc, this is really the least of your worries.

I used to work for one of the big mfrs, I've worked on recalls and have dealt with the CPSC. It's not to say this isn't important or shouldn't be watched, but I think a lot of people are over-reacting.

[Former_Member]

It does affect crafters of children's goods in a major way... Anything sold for kids under 12, whether you import huge amounts from somewhere else or create one of a kind things at home in your sewing room, is affected by these new regulations.

Right now there are no exceptions whatsoever for crafters or anyone else.

What makes me the most upset is that I use the same fabric (which is notoriously low in lead levels anyway) that anyone could go to their local shop and buy. Yet I have to have my end product certifiec at the tune of about $150 a pop... And that's per fabric style! I make small batches of about 10 per fabric style so this would absolutely kill me.

[TheWrapScrapPony]

I think this is very important to all Etsians who make any children's products. The way it is written now, it seems will have to test our own fabrics and can not rely on the fabric manufacturer to do so.

Read this article from handmade toy alliance http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

[Former_Member]

I'm writing my senator every day until Feb 10. I don't want to break the law.

[TheWrapScrapPony]

Also here is a petition you can sign

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/

[Former_Member]

More information and links here: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5935591

And weesandy, unfortunately you're not right on this one. I really wish you were. We cannot at this time rely on suppliers certs. However that's a good suggestion of change to make to your representatives! To others, who wants to operate with the threat of legal action hanging over your heads? Esp. when it is not necessary or fair? And limits any potential for future growth?

[MelanderDesigns]

I have worked in the fashion industry over 10 years. Fabric suppliers, as a general rule, test their fabrics. But they will absolutely not certify their tests as suitable for any specific end purpose. In other words you will have to test things again to certify for children's products.

A recent opinion from the CPSC says that anything used for feeding or sleeping MUST be tested for pthalates in addition to lead testing. This will apply to bibs, burp cloths, diapers, blankets, sleepers (which must also have flammability testing). Pthalate testing starts at $350 per surface.

http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/advisory/320.pdf

[Former_Member]

Prairie Roses... would the regulation you talk about also apply to teething? It's not feeding or sleeping, but it's in baby's mouth a bunch (but then again, what toy isn't?)

[Former_Member]

The regulation regarding lead testing applies to anything and everything manufactured for children under 12.

One approach that we are working on through the fashion incubator is to flood the CPSC with hard-copy letters. If you don't have time to write one, you can go to the ipetition online, copy and paste it into a word processing document, rework it as you see fit and send it in.

Don't forget to sign on to the petition while you're there.
We're going to use the stats from the ipetition to convince our congressional representatives that this legislation, if not prudently implemented, will result in very negative consequences for business in their state and across the country.

Our politicians are dealing with a lot of pretty major issues right now on the national level. This is going to take a huge grassroots effort if we are going to get any attention paid to it. Please do your part.

Jody