Head over to President-Elect Obama’s Change.org site and vote up the “Save Small Business From the CPSIA” Idea for Change. The top 10 ideas get presented to Obama, and currently this one is number 6. Add your vote to make sure this issue stays at the top of the list so it can get the attention it deserves. You’ll need to register if you haven’t already, but it is very quick and easy. (And after you vote, check out the other proposals and vote for the ones closest to your heart.)
Thank you to The Handmade Toy Alliance for getting the proposal up there and providing excellent support to those wishing to change the CPSIA to accommodate small business owners. Here’s their concise summary of the effect of this law:
The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of children‘s goods that have earned and kept the public’s trust: Toys, clothes, and accessories made in the US, Canada, and Europe. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade children’s products will no longer be legal in the US. If this law had been applied to the food industry, every farmers market in the country would be forced to close while Kraft and Dole prospered.
Erika Jurney is the founder of Try Handmade. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook or learn more about her love of the handmade.{ Comment :: 10 }
more beauty...
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
This is such a great blog! So glad I found you!
Thank you April, you’re so nice!
Well, for starters, a site like Etsy could just refuse to allow toy listings. Plus, I think the fines are very large, so most people aren’t going to decide to take the risk. It’s quite a problem.
This law is insane, and although it is scary sounding, I just cannot imagine how it could be enforced!
They definitely didn’t think this through at all. It’s ridiculous. If we keep talking about it hopefully they’ll realize how wrong it is and amend it to make more sense.
I keep thinking that something will happen, but nothing yet and I’m getting more worried.
Is the testing just for lead, if so what about the kits at home depo?
again, i see this as a nightmare to enforce. First of all who would be snooping around looking for handmade toys to fine the person who makes and sells them?
It’s ridiculous. I really do not beleive that this is going to fly. With all the hoopola it has generated, there most likely will be some kind of amendment to the law or it will be reworded. This is my wish and hope anyway..
You can’t do the test yourself — 3rd party testing is required, and the tests run from $300 – $4000 per item you sell.
I just read that the law as it stands is getting alot of protest from legislators themselves……..like today Patrick Leahy and others are standing up against it. Hooray!
Fingers crossed — it’s getting pretty close to the wire!