Unless some serious amendments are passed in the new CPSIA, I and thousands of other crafters of children's items (clothing, toys, cloth diapers, etc.) will be unable to legally sell our products after February 10th. The CPSIA was written in reaction to the lead toys that came over from China two Christmases ago. I am all for keeping led out of my daughter's toys, but this law is taking things way too far.
- The testing required is at LEAST $400/pop, and every unique item in every manufacturing run must be tested. I sell a set of ham/cheese cracker stacks made of cotton yarn (the yarn is made here in the USA as well) for about $10. I would need to make one extra cracker, one extra ham, and one extra cheese and send them off for testing for $1200. I can't afford that, therefore I would either operate illegallly and risk a $100,000 fine (which I can't afford either), or just go out of business altogether. Countless other work-at-home moms are in the same boat, making products that are already inherently lead-free.
- Signing this into law (and it IS already a law, we can only hope for amendments at this point) put not only thousands of sole proprietors out of business, but also the resale shops. Do you buy used clothing for your children? I do. But I won't be able to do that after February 10 either, because the law requires that it be the end product that is tested, and there's no way for the resale shops to be able to test all their inventory in each individual store.
- President-elect Obama is already talking up a stimulus package, but how stimulated can the economy BE if 80% of the people are suddenly out of work and unable to sell things?
Please click the link below and VOTE to Save Handmade Toys from the CPSIA. I would also suggest writing your Senators and Representatives. I wrote them and only received back a "canned" reply, if I even received a reply at all, but the more people that write them, the more aware they will start to be about this issue.
Change.org, Save Handmade Toys from the CPSIA
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