Farewell to Enterprise
Well, that didn't last long.
My nursing necklaces will not be turning into a tidy little home-based business after all, thanks to the new CPSIA law that went into effect today.
I don't expect anybody who doesn't dabble in handmade materials for children to know about this, so let me give an extremely brief explanation: CPSIA was pushed through congress about nine months ago in response to all the toy recalls over lead content. Which, fine, of course there needs to be greater accountability with toy manufacturers if they insist on having everything made in China. Essentially the new law requires that every item intended for children be tested by its manufacturer for compliance with the accepted levels of lead and pthalates.* Sounds great. Except testing costs are prohibitive, and must be done with every sku sold. Not just individual components of an item.
In other words, it is not enough for me to order my beads from suppliers who guarantee them to be lead and pthalate-free. I would have to have each of my necklaces (since each is different) individually tested for these substances - which would cost more than the value of the necklace, and, by the way, would destroy the necklace. To do otherwise would put me in violation of the law.
This applies to any and everything intended for children. Clothing, toys, bottles, baby gear, books. Yes, books. I have seen blog comments today from a lady saying her local thrift store was throwing boxes of children's books printed before 1985 into the garbage because they are no longer deemed "safe" under this law. This also applies, incidentally, to libraries, who presumably will have to destroy enormous volumes of their juvenile sections. Because you know how kids like to eat books. (Ingestion being the primary method of lead poisoning, and the fear being that there could be lead in the inks used in printing books.)
And all those small manufacturers of organic, handmade toys crafted proudly in America? The ones parents felt confident turning to when giants Hasbro and Mattel created this fiasco in the first place? Gone. Most will not have the financial ability to pay for the testing. The large manufacturers will be fine, although we can expect to see the prices of all their offerings go up.
Children's clothing manufacturers are expecting to get back over $5 million in unsellable clothing - clothing that is perfectly safe, but hasn't been officially tested so cannot legally be sold. Let's ponder what that's going to mean, in this economy, with the current unemployment rate. Thrift and consignment stores, although not required to test what they sell, can still be held liable for any item sold, so many will simply stop carrying children's items altogether. Let's think about what that means for families already struggling financially. No more stocking up on toddler t-shirts at Goodwill. You'll have to go to a regular store and buy at full price - which will also go up to cover testing costs, of course.
The small business voice has not been loud enough to get through to a blind and ignorant Congress what the full effects of this wildly-overreaching bill are going to be. Of course they are currently very busy pouring trillions of our dollars into their self-created sinkhole, so I guess we can't blame them for ignoring the little guy so many of them claim to care about.
Government. It can't do a thing without screwing it up.
*Except for key items like medical supplies used in NICU wards. Plastic medical supplies are loaded with pthalates, yet we use them to keep premature infants alive. But God help the stay at home mom selling her homemade cloth diapers - they might have lead in them!
My nursing necklaces will not be turning into a tidy little home-based business after all, thanks to the new CPSIA law that went into effect today.
I don't expect anybody who doesn't dabble in handmade materials for children to know about this, so let me give an extremely brief explanation: CPSIA was pushed through congress about nine months ago in response to all the toy recalls over lead content. Which, fine, of course there needs to be greater accountability with toy manufacturers if they insist on having everything made in China. Essentially the new law requires that every item intended for children be tested by its manufacturer for compliance with the accepted levels of lead and pthalates.* Sounds great. Except testing costs are prohibitive, and must be done with every sku sold. Not just individual components of an item.
In other words, it is not enough for me to order my beads from suppliers who guarantee them to be lead and pthalate-free. I would have to have each of my necklaces (since each is different) individually tested for these substances - which would cost more than the value of the necklace, and, by the way, would destroy the necklace. To do otherwise would put me in violation of the law.
This applies to any and everything intended for children. Clothing, toys, bottles, baby gear, books. Yes, books. I have seen blog comments today from a lady saying her local thrift store was throwing boxes of children's books printed before 1985 into the garbage because they are no longer deemed "safe" under this law. This also applies, incidentally, to libraries, who presumably will have to destroy enormous volumes of their juvenile sections. Because you know how kids like to eat books. (Ingestion being the primary method of lead poisoning, and the fear being that there could be lead in the inks used in printing books.)
And all those small manufacturers of organic, handmade toys crafted proudly in America? The ones parents felt confident turning to when giants Hasbro and Mattel created this fiasco in the first place? Gone. Most will not have the financial ability to pay for the testing. The large manufacturers will be fine, although we can expect to see the prices of all their offerings go up.
Children's clothing manufacturers are expecting to get back over $5 million in unsellable clothing - clothing that is perfectly safe, but hasn't been officially tested so cannot legally be sold. Let's ponder what that's going to mean, in this economy, with the current unemployment rate. Thrift and consignment stores, although not required to test what they sell, can still be held liable for any item sold, so many will simply stop carrying children's items altogether. Let's think about what that means for families already struggling financially. No more stocking up on toddler t-shirts at Goodwill. You'll have to go to a regular store and buy at full price - which will also go up to cover testing costs, of course.
The small business voice has not been loud enough to get through to a blind and ignorant Congress what the full effects of this wildly-overreaching bill are going to be. Of course they are currently very busy pouring trillions of our dollars into their self-created sinkhole, so I guess we can't blame them for ignoring the little guy so many of them claim to care about.
Government. It can't do a thing without screwing it up.
*Except for key items like medical supplies used in NICU wards. Plastic medical supplies are loaded with pthalates, yet we use them to keep premature infants alive. But God help the stay at home mom selling her homemade cloth diapers - they might have lead in them!