DO you know about the CPSIA?

DO you know about the CPSIA?

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story

Barring a reprieve, regulations set to take effect next month could force thousands of clothing retailers and thrift stores to throw away trunkloads of children's clothing.The law, aimed at keeping lead-filled merchandise away from children, mandates that all products sold for those age 12 and younger -- including clothing -- be tested for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable. Those that haven't been tested will be considered hazardous, regardless of whether they actually contain lead.
"They'll all have to go to the landfill," said Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Assn. of Resale and Thrift Shops.The new regulations take effect Feb. 10 under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act....

Cynthia Broockman, who owns two consignment stores and a thrift shop in Virginia, recently stopped accepting children's products for resale. That raised the ire of a man who was trying to sell his son's castoffs there and had not heard of the new rules."I think it's not understood by people how sweeping and far-reaching this is," she said. "The ripples that are going to go forth from this are just astonishing."
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It's not just clothes! Read on: CPSIA and children’s books, or, this is really screwed up
"...it applies to books. Definitely.
The past 2 days I have obsessively educated myself on the situation. First, although I understand the SPIRIT of the law, I have decided it’s completely screwed. Put aside my situation as a very small press with only 2 actual products for children for a second. Instead, think of the small presses who’ve been at this longer and have done better than I have and have 20, 30, or 100 titles in print. Then realize that after Feb. 10, unless they’ve had all of their book tested for lead by one of the 12 accredited labs in this country (and I did a search on the labs, and it looks like only 1 will do books), it will be illegal to sell their titles."
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Uh, oh. There's more: CPSIA and libraries

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS on the CPSIA. They have extended a REQUEST for COMMENTS thru 1/30/09. I found some of what they are looking for here: http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/2149.html
Give them your comments! E-mail to: Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov
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More message board comments from across the www:

~ "Bartering is subject to income tax, so I suspect the law will apply to bartering. If I understand the law correctly, items cannot be sold, OR DISTRIBUTED. The local crisis pregnancy center won't be able to give you a baby blanket that has not been certified lead free. Businesses can't liquidate their inventories by giving them to charity. I am wondering if my MIL can still sew dresses for her grandkids?"

~ "From what I am reading ANY sale of ANYTHING that is for use by a child under 12 is subject to this law. Yard sales. Ebay. Thrift stores. Used curriculum sales. Flea markets. Anything. You can't sell it. You can't give it away."

~ "It is a simple matter to check out the inventory of any store or business, and see if every item in the inventory has been permanently labeled with a certification of compliance. Then write out the fine or take the owner to jail. It is really simple. What is NOT possible is compliance. What this law does is give the federal government carte blanche to toss a large numbers of small business owners in jail "to protect the children," and to bankrupt those whom they don't send to jail. Those businesses that remain will be under heavy government regulation. The government owns your mortgage. They will soon own the banks. They will soon own the auto industry. This law will bring them one step closer to owning a major portion of America's manufacturing industry, or what is left of it."

~ "You won't be able to sell it. You may not be able to give it away. Unless it has a certification of compliance permanently attached to it, it cannot be sold. The fine is $100,000 per item sold. You could also face a 5-year prison sentence. This makes me think of communist Russia and China. The new communist regimes rounded up the intellectuals and sent them to prison. This law looks like a way to round up small business owners and send them to jail. I don't know if someone posted this link: http://www.squidoo.com/FixCPSIA There is a video of a speech made by the owner of an educational materials company. He estimates that it would cost him $20,000,000 to have his current inventory tested. Even then he would have no way of knowing if he complied with the law. He points out that many items that are subject to the law are specialty items made for specialty markets like special needs, the deaf and the blind. Manufacturing items for these markets will become so expensive due to government regulation that it will be essentially illegal."

~ "Rally Against the CPSIA legislature: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=38306568596"

~ "Open letter from Etsy about CPSIA"

~ "I have 3 resources for everyone...
the first is The Handmade Toy Alliance (this link actually goes to their "how you can help" page on which you can sign an online petition and obtain a "sample letter" to send to your senators and representitaves. I personally have done these things though my letter included points on resale, environmental responsibility and social responsibility (as this will affect the Fair Trade market). From this page they provide links to the senators and representitaves web pages on which you can send e-mails as well.
The second link is to the US CPSC (Consumer Products Safety Commision) on this site you can find info on these required tests and some of what their responses are. Under their "What's Hot" has some info and if you go to the "What's Popular" link, under Lead, you will find things from their employees roundtable siminars. There is also a link to contact them as well.
This is the link to the actual CPSIA law if you are wanting to sit and try to read it (62 pages of lots of leagal stuff)"

~ "Small handmade businesses who make anything for children are in for some problems if the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) goes into effect next month. The Law was made in response to contaminated toys being imported from overseas, but it affects EVERY manufacturer (even small, one-person, at home creators) of children's toys, clothing, accessories, what-have-you. The cost to test the items for safety will make one-of-a-kind and non-mass-produced items go the way of the dodo.Even if a crafter's supplies were tested, they have to test the finished product - every type of finished product - at $1000-$4000 a pop."

~ Here's a page to visit if you have a small business to take the surveys and see the impact this law will have on you: http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/cpsia-please-take-the-economic-impact-survey/

~ "the burden of testing products will destroy tens of thousands of small businesses, many of which are right here on Etsy. With the economy as it is now, causing so many to lose their jobs, “CPSIA” will totally bankrupt us a society, and put many of those whose shops are a showcase of “handmade” articles, an already dying breed of American culture. Don’t let “Big Brother” turn our country into a “communist culture” where everything and everyone is mandated by the rules of an overzealous Government.What can you do? Click on the link below and sign the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.html
Write your senators, congress people, everyone...share this...get the word out."
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