Action Needed Today Regarding HR4040, Lead Safety in Toys
A fellow mama and entrepreneur, Sarah of Pinstripes and Polkadots diaper shop, recently alerted me regarding current legislation, HR4040, regarding toy safety.
I am very enthusiastic about this legislation, but concerned about its impact regarding small businesses and WAHM’s. Although I haven’t yet done the complete research, the time to act is now, as apparently the bill has already passed and committee members are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss implementation.
An excellent quote sums up the potential impact of this legislation, from the HandmadeToyAlliance.org:
The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public’s trust: Toys made in the US, Canada, and Europe. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade toys 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.
Please consider writing your congressman, especially if you reside in one of the districts of a committee member. The bill is sponsored by the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, who may also be emailed directly. You can also track this bill at OpenCongress.org.
My HR4040 Letter in Support of WAHM’s and Hand Crafters
I am writing as a mother of two boys. While I am very enthusiastic about new legislation to protect our children from lead and other hazards, I wanted to express some concerns I have over implementation and its impact on the small businesses that I support.
As a part of my support for American small businesses, as well as the added safety that I believe comes from “family to family” commerce (a neat little term I coined for myself), I actively purchase products from work-at-home-mom owned businesses. My concern is that elements of legislation in HR4040 will make it impossible for these small businesses to continue operating.
My understanding is that new legislation will require a $4,000 test for each product and permanent batch stamping on each individual item. The government would require businesses to shoulder this cost entirely, a figure that certainly precludes small businesses from continuing to sell their products.
Everything from natural raw wood baby rattles free of any finishing to hand-sewn cloth diapers would incur so great a surcharge on their sale that only multi-national corporations could bear the expense profitably, shifting production to overseas facilities where oversight is impersonal and limited.
Buying American-made is already extremely difficult for us moms, when over 80% of children’s products are manufactured overseas. While I applaud the long overdue efforts to safeguard children’s products, this bill cannot be approved without some sort of government financing to help support the small American and hand-made businessperson, whether through providing independent low-cost testing for U.S. made goods by small manufacturers, or financing randomized inspections in such cases.
I challenge you to do your best to ensure that our children are protected from the laxity of large industry, while still being nurtured by the thriving community of fellow mothers who currently do business online and amidst both city neighborhoods and small towns.
Please do not kill this blossoming aspect of American ingenuity and entrepreneurship. Working mothers and craftsman are seen by many to be the cure, not the problem.
Thank you.
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I really love the letter you wrote. I only recently became aware of this new law and I think it’s important to get this info out to the consumers so they are made aware of it. I hope that this will get worked out so that wahm’s and small companies don’t get harshly affected by it.
Thank you, Beth! I took a moment to check for updates on the law and wrote a new post, New Hope for Handmade Industry in Lead Law Exceptions.
I agree with you, and hopefully by spreading the word we can ensure that handmades and WAHM’s will survive *while* our children’s safety is protected.
Hi! I am a stay at home Mom who makes/sells hair bows. All I use is polyester ribbon or nylon (organza). However, I will be affected because I can not prove my products are safe by the expensive 3rd party testing. I have several MSDS sheets from suppliers already stating they are lead free, but that doesn’t hold up when 3rd party testing comes into play. I will be OUT OF WORK. Serious amendments need to be made to this law. The small exclusions/exemptions for natural wood etc. do not help me at all.
Hi! I am writing mostly on the behalf of my grandfather. He is a veteran of the airforce and retired printshop worker of 78 years old. Since his retirement, he has been a wood craftsman, working from his shop at home and selling his products at a local farmer’s market as well as several craft shows and festivals around the area. Although he also builds bird houses, napkin holder, and other small trinkets, children’s toys are his primary focus from which he makes the largest amount of profit. He was informed today from my aunt (his daughter) of this new law and is very concerned about the specifics of it as well as how he can get in touch with his congressman. I see in Pam’s post the there may be some “small exclusions/exemptions for natural wood etc.” Would his products require this $4000 third-party testing or is he still in the clear?
Regardless of whether he is or not, I still think that there should be severe amendments to this new law.
I would greatly appreciate some more information from anyone who can provide it.
Thankyou!
Hi Nikki and Pam,
I published a new post with a list of links to staying updated on the CPSIA law and its interpretation.
The following quote may also be of interest:
“The CPSC is an agency with limited resources and tremendous responsibility to protect the safety of families,” said Scott Wolfson, a CPSC spokesman. “Our focus will be on those areas we can have the biggest impact and address the most dangerous products.”
(From the LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/busines.....7858.story)
The hope is that armed with your lead-free MSDS’s on your materials and representing such a small business, that you could continue to operate in good faith. But who knows what the outcome will be?
It does appear, however, Nikki, that natural wood may represent an exclusion. See my liks post for more on that.
Your stories are exactly those that policymakers need to hear! I hope you’ll consider telling your story directly to the CPSC. Visit their CPSIA web site (http://cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html) and click on the “Questions” box, second from the bottom in the left column. Apparently they have extra staff on hand to wade through the questions received, and it’s a good way to call attention to the details and the real life people behind this issue.
Best of luck to your business Pam, and your grandfather’s Nikki. I certainly hope that you won’t suffer the fallout from this bill. If so, it would be a true tragedy.
hopealsos last blog post..Links for Tracking and Understanding HR4040 / CPSIA Regulations
More information to help ~ This is from another forum I am a member of~ Here are 4 addresses to contact concerning letting our voices be heard. PLEASE take time to WRITE a letter to these man and let them know how the CPSIA will affect you and your family. Being a homeschool family as well, it will impact us regarding the use and availability of used textbooks. PLEASE send a letter to the Committee on Energy and Commerce (names listed below) , they have the ability to call an emergency hearing on implementation of the CPSIA. They are who the CPSC looks to for this bill and its interpretation. Here are the addresses to mail a letter to explaining how the CPSIA will negatively impact your family:
Here are the names and addresses of the four Committee leaders:
The Hon. Henry A. Waxman
Chairman Committee on Energy and Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Hon. Joe Barton
Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce
2322-A Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Hon. Bobby Rush
Chairman Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade
and Consumer Protection
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Hon. Ed Whitfield
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade
and Consumer Protection
2322-A Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
This is a dead-letter law. The law has no real enforcement of the culprits who put lead in kids toys (no standards for manufacturers) it’s a law that is to check toys/clothing/etc. AFTER it’s made. Great. smart, eh? NOT! What about a real law..that really protects our kids…one that sets standards for raw materials produced for the American Market? One that requires our American agencies to go to the country of manufacture, and/or to where the raw materials are from and TEST them? What about censuring and banning toys from areas that repeatedly make these bad toys? To make it a retailers nightmare…seems to me that someone is behind this…perhaps Walmart? (It’s a great way to get rid of your competition! Scare them out of business.)
Ignore this stupid law, it can’t be enforced….not with all the focus on State Attorney Generals to enforce it…and look at the financial messes most states are in? What money for enforcement? (There is none allotted for the states).
Keep your stores open…and stop jumping up and down in a frenzy. It can’t hurt you if you ignore it. In fact, my crystal ball says that this law will fade away….we won’t have any better protection for no lead or other garbage in our kids toys, etc., however, the NEXT time there is another recall..there will be lots more finger pointing.
Urge your congressmen to get off their lazy asses and do some real legislating, not this feel good, nonsense…that just put some $$ in their pocket, and made noises like they actually cared about people.