What is the CPSIA and Why Should I Care?
by Alex in General / 01.16.09
You probably remember the reports from 2007 and early 2008 about problems with children’s toys. There were many toy recalls due to all sorts of issues ranging from lead in the toys to small parts that could cause choking in toys that were designated for young children. This was due to many toy manufacturers outsourcing toy production to foreign countries. The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) did not have the authority to prevent these dangerous toys and other products from coming into the United States and being sold.
To alleviate this problem, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August of 2008. The law redefines the meaning of “children’s products” as anything created for children 12 and under places extensive third-party testing requirements for banned lead and phthalates and choking hazards. It also requires permanent labeling of each item with a date and batch number.
While this initially sounds like it would be a good idea, there are several problems with the law. The law requires the third-party testing and certification of all toys, clothing, books, art, educational supplies, and more by February 10th of 2009. Anything that has not been certified will be considered contraband, illegal to sell or give to charity, and must be destroyed or permanently disposed of. This includes American-made products, products made in small batches by small companies, and used items.
And therein lies the problem. American-made toys were never implicated in any of the recalls from 2007, and would be required to increase their cost in order to certify that their products are being made properly when they were never in question, to begin with. In addition, this law as it is currently written would force the entire industry of handmade children’s toys out of business. These toy & clothing makers are very small-sometimes just one or two people (many without a storefront, or even their own website, selling on etsy.com), making their products by hand oftentimes from sustainable and responsibly sourced materials. These small business cannot afford the several-thousand dollar costs associated with having their products certified. And then there is the question of thrift stores and second-hand shops. Since these, again, are often small businesses, they will not be able to pay the cost of having children’s products certified and will simply have to stop carrying anything for children under the age of twelve. This would be a huge blow to many parents, who rely on second-hand goods in order to afford clothing their children. In addition to all this, anything that doesn’t meet the criteria will wind up in a landfill unnecessarily.
I am all for increasing the regulations on imported products, in general, and especially the products that we are buying for our children. However, I think that the regulations that are imposed need to be very thoughtfully examined and carefully crafted. Small businesses are crucial to the US economy, especially in our current economic climate. And independently owned toy and clothing manufacturers usually go into their line of work out of a concern for children and the way their products are produced, in the first place. It simply does not make sense to punish them and put them out of business, when they are very often the people working the hardest to ensure our children’s safety.
If you would like to learn more about the CPSIA and what you can do to help stop this legislation, follow the links below:
-Vote to amend the CPSIA on Change.org
Thanks for publicizing this! May I also suggest visiting the War Room for up to the minute updates and focused activism? http://bit.ly/3SFN. There’s also the automated mailer to email legislators in one fell swoop. http://tinyurl.com/5hloos. Lastly, we are asking people to fill out the Economic Impact Survey http://bit.ly/Cdwv. The latter link also includes every CPSIA entry published on Fashion-Incubator.com which has been at the forefront of this site from day one and was instrumental in getting the word out on Etsy and across the web.