A big thank you to Lisa of Over the Crescent Moon for informing me that yesterday, the Consumer Protection Safety Commission (CPSC) unanimously voted to delay enforcement of certain testing and certification requirements.
The new requirements were scheduled to take effect on February 10, 2009 but enforcement will now be delayed for one year (February 10, 2010). This will give the CPSC time to finalize four proposed rules which could exempt certain products from testing and provide more guidance on when testing would be required.
From the press release:
The stay of enforcement provides some temporary, limited relief to the crafters, children’s garment manufacturers and toy makers who had been subject to the testing and certification required under the CPSIA. These businesses will not need to issue certificates based on testing of their products until additional decisions are issued by the Commission. However, all businesses, including, but not limited to, handmade toy and apparel makers, crafters and home-based small businesses, must still be sure that their products conform to all safety standards and similar requirements, including the lead and phthalates provisions of the CPSIA.
Hooray! This issue is not over yet, but at least Etsy and quality handmade and foreign toys have one more year of life. It seems as though the vocal public outrage has produced a step in the right direction.
Thanks to all who let their voices be heard!!
Let’s hope that the CPSC will stay on this more reasonable path and narrow down the overly broad Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).
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LINKS:
Here is a link to the full text of the press release:
CPSC Grants One Year Stay of Testing and Certification Requirements for Certain Products (from the CPSC website)
And the full text of the CPSIA is here.
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See this cute thrift store British guards pull toy that my 3 year-old loves? (Made in England)
It was given to her by my thrift store-loving British Dad.
After February 10th, it will [might??] be illegal.
A quick update on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) situation:
- As of today, there are 18 days until mandatory toy compliance certification is requested. Only 18 more days of legal Etsy, of legal thrift stores, of legal used books (even library books), of legal thrift store clothing, of legal garage sale toys, books, clothes… [???? See NOTE below???] The scope is potentially HUGE. It’s not just toys.
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If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, here is a brief summary:
In August 2008 Congress passed the CPSIA with the goal of improving toy safety. It bans lead and phthalates from toys and children’s products and also mandates lots of extra testing and labeling. Well, the thought is nice, but in reality only large corporations will be able to afford the certification required. There is no exception for hand-crafted toys, or toys already certified under strict European standards.
The statute is overly broad and will effectively prohibit the sale of handmade toys in the United States. Even German toymaker Selecta has decided that the new law is too burdensome and has already withdrawn from the U.S. market.
If you want to, you can read more about this issue in these posts of mine:
Auf Wiedersehen Selecta (…Good-Bye Hand-Crafted Toys?)
Our Last Selecta Toy
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NOTE: Thanks to alert reader Erika (I sound like Dave Barry) for pointing out my failure to completely do my homework. On January 8th the CPSC published a clarification which apparently exempts resellers from the testing requirement. So thrift stores, garage sales, used book stores and the like should be OK as long as they avoid selling “products that are likely to have lead content.” Here is the exact paragraph:
The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.
It is still a bit troubling to me. If I sell some antique toys to collectors on Ebay and one of those toys, unbeknownst to me, contains lead, will I be in violation of the law? My interpretation of this is yes. Hmmm….
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