Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Reform the CPSIA


Hi everyone...I wanted to pass along some information about a proposed set of laws called the Consumer Product Safety Information Act (CPSIA) that will basically close my Etsy shop, or at least the part of it that contains clothes for kids. Take a minute to read the law as it's been proposed if you are so inspired. Although we all want our kids to be protected from what can be harmful to their health (duh), this law has some serious flaws.

Now, I'm no lawyer, but from what I hear, even libraries will be affected by the law, which wil require them to test all of the books on their shelves or ban kids from their libraries. I won't be able to sell my tiesies or kid's clothes as of February 10 unless I have each item independently tested. Quoting the below-linked Forbes op-ed: "As of Feb. 10, it will become unlawful to make or sell anything intended for use by children under 12 without a program to test the goods for lead--even if no items of their kind have ever been found to pose a lead risk, even if you make and sell only a few inexpensive items a year, even if you've sourced their materials from the most conscientious local suppliers and even if they're items toddlers seldom convey into their mouths, such as dartboards or bicycle tires."

Here are some articles on the topic:
Forbes, part 1
Forbes, part 2
Bloomberg
National Bankruptcy Day

Please call your congressperson or senator to give your feedback. I appreciate it!

2 comments:

Jen said...

I'd heard about the library issue, too. Insane. I'm off to write my letter a.s.a.p. Thanks for the kick in the pants.

Granny said...

well, it appears that we got a one year stay of execution while they "rethink" it.

Might have been better if they thought it through in the first place - but wait the government did this and they don't think