Who is impacted by the CPSIA?

That’s the million dollar question here is the million dollar answer.

Everybody. Who is impacted? Every single person in this country will be impacted by the CPSIA. Every single product sold for children 0 - 12 years whether it be ATVs, motorcycles, clothes, dolls, educational material, furniture, bottles, diapers, EVERY SINGLE THING! Come February 2010 you will be required to test each and every “Batch” of your product and each and every component for lead and Phthalates. ATVs have lead in their brakes and other parts. Even though they are sold to older children who typically do NOT put things in their mouths, they will be ILLEGAL under this law. Right now the CPSC has granted them a stay on this rule for a year but that will do nothing.

Let’s say you sell 100% organic cotton baby dolls. Do they contain lead? Um, I think a person with even a limited intellegence would say “Of course not! It’s cotton!” Doesn’t matter. Under the CPSIA common sense makes NO sense. Your wonderfully hand made 100% organic cotton baby doll will be illegal to sell unless you 1. Test each batch ($300 - $800 per test), Test each fabric ($300 - $800 per test), and test it redundently on each VERSION. SO if you use 3 different fabrics on 6 different dolls. You have to test all 3 fabrics 6 different times (one test for each item or batch thereof). Am I starting to make some sense? I didn’t think so. The LAW doesn’t make any sense.

So all this testing elliminates small manufacturers. Etsy - GONE!  The only businesses to afford testing will be Walmart and Target and other plastic monsters from China. Lucky us Americans can buy crap for our kids. This ellimates retailers too, small to medium since they won’t be able to carry the more custom “unique/boutique” style products for children because either: 1. They won’t exist any more or 2. They won’t have a GSS (General Conformity Certificate) under this law and will therefore be illegal to sell in the United States of America. They will then only be legally sold abroad to countries who’ve consistently and for decades had stricter laws regarding manufacturing - but laws that made sense.

This law will elliminate textile manufacturers. What will companies like Harmony Art do who sell a significant portion of their materials fto manufacturers who make children’s products? What if Harmony Art is certified by other more stringent textile standards like GOTS? Doens’t matter. Other testing certifications do not qualify for compliance under the CPSIA. So CPSIA GCC testing is redundant and irrelevant.

This law will impact all business that have anything to do with baby products. You name it, or find it in a craft store. If you buy it and use it to make something and then sell it on ebay - you will be breaking the law!!! If you buy yarn that the manufacturer makes for anyone - not just for baby products but you don’t certify it under CPSIA and you sell that baby product you will go to jail. 5 Years and/or $100,000. per occurance. Move over Martha Stewart, we are going to have a lot more crafters in jail!

I could write a detailed list of all the supply chains impacted by this law as you so requested, but it would be easier to list who wouldn’t be affected. Even the consumer will be affected negatively. We all will be forced to buy plastic, mass-produced, boring, breakable CRAP! Wooden rocking horses made by a retired Veteran and sold from his front porch? Illegal, baby diapers hand made by a grandmother who loves to sew, illegal.  It will even be illegal to sell any and all current merchandise producted BEFORE the law was inacted. This law specifically states that it is retroactive.

And come August of  THIS year - the labeling will also be a requirement and a daunting task in and of itself as it poses even more confusion, cost, and impracticality in it’s application requiring that every single item be tracable back to it’s GCC!

This is ludicrously with a capital L we are talking about. And it is happening with the children’s product industry, the costmetic industry, the organic food and small farmers industry, & even private radio just to name a few. And the list is getting bigger every day with more and more independent industries that are being impacted by LARGE LEGISLATION of this mulitude and impracticality. The government is trying to make ALL the decisions for us and is had GOT TO STOP!

One one last note as I close this evidently long winded reply to your question; I am starting to not care anymore about this. I have fought and fought and tried to garner support to sue Congress and stop this law. But alas, the small businesses this will kill are either too poor, too weak or too scared to participate. And as far as I’m concerned, the group fighting this on their behalf cannot fight it alone any longer. It’s larger than we ever thought possible and we need EVERYONE on board to fight it. Skateboarding industry, apparel industries, sporting goods industries, food, clothing, bedding, hiegene, - sheesh EVERYONE in this NATION should be fighting these laws! Congress is not longer doing their job. They are making THEIR decisions and telling us how things will be run.

Please take a look and watch the video below. It is not a joke and it is 200% the truth. Our nation of people are blind to what is being done to them yet we do NOTHING. We will get what we deserve in the end.

We want safe products for children but we want the right to stay in business! YET THEY IGNORE US!!!

A Second Revolutionary War

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3 Comments to Who is impacted by the CPSIA?

1. You don’t seem to have read or understood the CPSIA correctly. The law specifically excludes many materials from testing and labeling requirements–including natural materials (such as wood, leather, fur, feathers, and stones not associated with lead), most fabrics (such as cotton, wool, and nylon), yarn, surgical steel, and any component not accessible to small children (such as the lead in an ATV’s parts). This ought to set your frenzied little mind at ease; it is “200% the truth,” and it eliminates many of the problems you cite.
Jessie on July 6th, 2009

2. Jessie,
   You are mistaken. The LAW does NOT exclude natural materials. And as far as I have been able to find, there has not even been a ruling by the commission on natural materials. People are confusing the “guidelines” published by the STAFF of the CPSC with the LAW. The guidelines have not been read by the commissioners not do the reflect the views of the commissioners. Read the cover sheet!

   Even if natural materials were excluded from testing, that would not solve the labeling issue or the record keeping issue. My mother makes rag dolls, one at a time, not in batches. The system of label that this law calls for is impossible for her. The keeping of records to show the origin for the fabric and thread (some of which has been on the shelf for years) and batting permanently is ridiculous for the handcrafter.

   Also, this isn’t just about people who make things for children to sell. You can’t make things for children and give them away without jumping through these hoops! Go read the LAW and not the guidelines!
rita on August 1st, 2009

3. Another wonderful blog with great details on a horrific law. It is a shame that so few (including Jesse) have taken the time to look at this law, what it says, and what it is doing.

   I have a small consignment shop (mostly books printed after 1986, so we are only impacted to a smaller degree by this law — meaning I only had to purge $5,000 worth of materials from our shelves in February - in a store that generally averages $4,000 in sales, that was a BIG hit anyway).

   This law is BAD…and those in Congress who refuse to fix it (starting with Congressman Waxman in California) ought to be job hunting sooner rather than later!
cmmjaime on August 2nd, 2009

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