The Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)
Being a small business and someone who crafts handmade toys, this directly affects me. Please read up on this issue that will be enacted in Feb. There is still time to act. Write to your congressmen and senators. There is more info here at this website:
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/
and even a blanket letter and list of senators and congressmen for you to write to. Please help us or we will soon be extinct!!!!
"We are facing the extinction of all things handmade for children due to The Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that is set to come into effect on February 10, 2009. This law was passed by our current government administration in August, 2008 around the same time the media was talking about the lead found in children's toys manufactured in China. This law, as written, will put many small business out of business because of the exhorbitant costs of the testing that it requires.
To anyone who thinks they will not be affected by this law, please consider this: What would our country be like if the only toys, books, clothing and other children's products you could *legally* purchase were mass manufactured by companies that could afford the tens of thousands of dollars per year it will take to test each of their products and affix a permanent certificate number to each item? This is the reality of what this law is going to do to our handmade industry if we do not insist that this law be repealed or amended to consider how it will affect our country's small businesses. Our laws should support independant businesses, not punish them."
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/
and even a blanket letter and list of senators and congressmen for you to write to. Please help us or we will soon be extinct!!!!
"We are facing the extinction of all things handmade for children due to The Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that is set to come into effect on February 10, 2009. This law was passed by our current government administration in August, 2008 around the same time the media was talking about the lead found in children's toys manufactured in China. This law, as written, will put many small business out of business because of the exhorbitant costs of the testing that it requires.
To anyone who thinks they will not be affected by this law, please consider this: What would our country be like if the only toys, books, clothing and other children's products you could *legally* purchase were mass manufactured by companies that could afford the tens of thousands of dollars per year it will take to test each of their products and affix a permanent certificate number to each item? This is the reality of what this law is going to do to our handmade industry if we do not insist that this law be repealed or amended to consider how it will affect our country's small businesses. Our laws should support independant businesses, not punish them."