National Bankruptcy Day
As if the horrible economy wasn’t enough, if you sell products targeted for children ages 12 and under, be prepared to THROW AWAY these items, as you will no longer be able to sell them unless you comply to this law.
You read that correctly. Thrown. Away.
I don’t know about you, but I feel ill just typing it, let alone imagining it.
Oh, and if you plan to sell and make a little money from your children’s old items, be forewarned, local yard sale groups and places like Ebay and Craigslist will no longer allow sale of those items, either.
No joke.
Let me back up a bit, as I’m pretty sure this might be the first time you are hearing this.
In the recent years there have been numerous recalls for children’s products, yes? I know for me, hearing about these recalls just about drove me nuts. Toys were being sold with dangerously high lead content, with unsafe small parts, some with improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets or parts, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.
Shocked? I know I wasn’t.
Congress decided to act, identifying a need for something to be done, and wholly recognized the need for the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to step up to the plate, as it obviously lacked the authority and manpower to prevent dangerous toys such as these from being imported into the US. So, Congress and the CPSC, in their attempt to fix this issue, passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.
Sounds like a good solution? Not quite.
For large, multinational toy manufacturers, all of these changes are fairly easy to comply with, as they sell thousands of their toys and will have very little incremental cost to pay for any additional testing needed, to include updating their products to include batch labels. No sweat for them, really.
For the little guys, the small scale toymakers out there, who weren’t the ones with toxic, dangerous toys to begin with, these costs they will incur in order to include this new mandatory testing and special labeling, to the tune of up to $4,000 per toy, will likely drive them out of business. Small mom and pop businesses will likely have to close their doors and shops, as they will not be able to comply. Your favorite children’s products sold by hard-working moms and dads on popular websites like Etsy and Hyena Cart will not survive. And ironically, they weren’t even the ones to cause this to begin with.
Just because they’re big, doesn’t mean this won’t hurt, though. There is a handful of larger toy makers, in country or no, who still employ workers in the United States who will face increased costs in order to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.
Even worse? Because of ill-wording in the CPSIA, toy makers aren’t be the only ones impacted by this, there are thousands of US businesses who offer children’s clothing, jewelry and other gifts for children - the entire children’s industry - is affected by this as well, being forced to comply as well.
The CPSIA states all childrens toys and products. And as a result, unless we do something and the law is modified, as of February 10th 2009 all handmade toys, secondhand children’s products and more will no longer be legal in the US.
Let’s not forget this also includes the thrift industry, places like Goodwill. Goodwill will have to clear their racks and throw away perfectly good merchandise, just because they can’t comply to what the drastic CPSIA asks.
Sickened? Enraged? You’re not alone.
Kathleen Fasanella from The Fashion Incubator stated in her article the following:
In the Wall Street Journal, Rick Woldenberg was quoted as describing February 10, 2009 as National Bankruptcy Day because that’s the day when many of us will go out of business due to the implementation of the CPSIA Regulations. I’m dismayed at how little it’s been discussed online and in the news. I’m shocked that so few manufacturers know about it. Of the ones that do know, most think it either doesn’t apply to them or it will magically disappear or it won’t be enforced so they can ignore it. Come February 10th, a lot of people will be hit hard by reality when their products are returned or their financing is declined.
She created a website called National Bankruptcy Day in which she hopes to help spread the word, where she encourages small business owners to take the Economic Impact Survey, which will measure the impact the CPSIA will have on small businesses, along with discussion of a proposed NAM Plan, created by The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) .
LA Times featured this article on the subject. ABC News did too. The Handmade Toy Alliance has proposed this to help amend the CPSIA fairly. There are many more people out there talking, but not enough.
Feel you need to do something? Good! Visit Cool Mom Picks here and let your voice be heard.
Let’s all band together and help amend the CPSIA so that all businesses large and small are able to comply, keep our children safe and survive!
AUTHOR | Lisa @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting
Lisa is a military wife and mother to six who loves baking and cooking from scratch, crafts, knitting, sewing, and all things homemade, all while trying to stay a wee bit sane. She's an old-fashioned kind of gal, yet technology fascinates her. She can be found blogging seeking refuge regularly at Crazy Adventures in Parenting, named one of 100 Top Blogs for Expecting Mothers!
What an appropriate term ‘National Bankruptcy Day’. I had heard of the new law, but I guess that I didn’t fully understand what it entailed and the reprocussions. Thanks for this article and the heads up. How devastating!
Lisa - I glanced through the CPSIA wording and didn’t see where it stated that these new regulations would apply to used goods sold through eBay, Craigslist, Goodwill, Garage Sales, etc. I also looked through eBay’s official announcements and didn’t see any mention of CPSIA. Nothing at Criagslist.org about it either. I would be interested in your sources.
[...] to Lisa’s post I spent most of last night and this morning researching the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. [...]
Since the CDC has never had a case of lead poisoning from textiles - and from everything we read, there is no danger in apparel fabrics - so the law should be amended.
In the meantime if clothing must be disposed of - might I suggest a movement to send the garments to countries where children need clothing and where this law does not exist.
What if they marketed the items for children over 12, would they still have to comply?
Phoebe ~ Appropriate term and devastating indeed
Todd~ The CPSIA wording is so vague, it includes all items sold for ages 12 and under, including clothing, baby gear, etc. It doesn’t distinguish new or used, it just broadly encompasses all.
The article in LA Times featured several thrift store owners/workers which cited their stance on what would happen to their businesses. The article cited Goodwill’s need to have to throw their items away if they don’t comply to the new rules
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story
Because it implies all products sold, to include used, which would affect Goodwill, by extention it would affect ebay, Craigslist, and the like.
The CPSIA did not list it specifically, as I said, its very broad in manner and by extention, includes all.
Nancy~ I do believe products over the age of 12 are covered by what I read.
This is a defacto law for offending companies, and has nothing to do with any of the industries you listed. Most of the bill has to do with punishing people who are found to break the new led standard, and specifically waives several industries you listed and even excludes states that already have provisions in place. Please read the entire law before you start whistle-blowing, and causing panic in your poor readers. This is the first overhaul of toy manufacturing standards in years, and it’s about time. Applying the law to imports but not exports would be hypocritical, and dangerous. Small time toy manufacturers that sell local or online won’t have any new issues to deal with, partly because the bill exempts them, and also because I highly doubt small time toy manufacturers are tempering their own metals and plastics, and it’s more than likely that their suppliers will have to integrate a minor cost into their process (or they’re probably already doing it) before shipping materials. Even then, only a toy that was found to be unsafe would actually receive fines or reprimands under this bill if they weren’t testing.
Brandon,
I wish I were seeing it wrong, but I’m not. It should only apply to those offending, but it doesn’t because of ill-wording. Yes, there needs to be something in place, but not this as it’s worded now, as it includes the entire children’s industry, to include what I’ve already mentioned.
Many others are seeing it the same as I am, people like the LA Times, Goodwill, LA Times, ABC News, Mothering.com and many more, to include Senate Majority Leader Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who was quoted saying “I am hopeful that the CPSC will take the needs of small, American manufacturers into consideration as they continue to develop new testing policies. In the next session of Congress, I will continue to work towards a solution that both ensures the safety of our children and allows small businesses in Vermont to stay competitive.”
This from the brief version of the CPSIA:
Regarding section 102 “Mandatory Third Party Testing…”
“The new legislation imposes an additional third-party testing requirement for all consumer products primarily intended for children twelve years of age or younger. Every manufacturer (including an importer) or private labeler of a children’s product must have its product tested by an accredited independent testing lab and, based on the testing, must issue a certificate that the product meets all applicable CPSC requirements. ”
also regarding section 105 “Labeling Requirement..”
“Section 103(a) of the new law requires manufacturers to have a tracking label or other distinguishing permanent mark on any consumer product primarily intended for children twelve and younger. The tracking label must contain certain basic information, including the source of the product, the date of manufacture and more detailed information on the manufacturing process such as a batch or run number. The scope of this provision is quite broad in that it applies to all children’s products, including, but not limited to, items such as clothing or shoes not just toys and other regulated products. Congress modified the requirement for tracking labels with the phrase “to the extent practicable” recognizing that it may not be practical for permanent distinguishing marks to be printed on small toys and other small products that are manufactured and shipped without individual packaging.
The Commission has the authority to issue a rule further defining the detail required in the tracking labels. Moreover, the Commission also has the ability to require in the future that the additional information contained on tracking labels for children’s products be expanded to cover all consumer products.”
In essence, what they’ve said here is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. First children’s products, then all products will follow.
Reminds me of this [smile].
May this be fixed, and soon.
~Luke
Hmm… the links don’t appear to be working. Sad times: http://despair.com/government.html
~Luke
[...] Happy to be at Home - Great post about the far-reaching affects of the CPSIA [...]
Good news! Secondhand stores will NOT be affected:
http://www.wyff4.com/money/18453746/detail.html