A possible end to handmade children’s items?
If you are a mother or a crafter of children’s items then this new law could affect you and your family. Beginning February 10th, a law that was intended to protect our children from larger companies is going to affect ALL manufacturers, including those who make items for children 12 and under on sites such as etsy and ebay… this will include ALL items such as children’s accessories (hair bows, jewelry, etc.), toys, clothing, cloth diapers… I can’t think of any item that won’t be affected by this new law.
As a mother I’m all for protecting my children, but I’m also wise enough to see that this is a law that affects almost all businesses.. even the little ones that have done no wrong and do their absolute best to ensure the safety of our children. In fact, most crafters of children’s items started making their items so parents didn’t have to worry.
Denise of Spoiled Rotten Designs has this to say;
“THIS NEW CPSIA WILL EFFECT ALL OF US that sell ANY products that can be considered for children. Not just toys and jewelry, but CLOTHING, ROOM DECOR, SCHOOL SUPPLIES, EDUCATIONAL AIDS, ART WORK, ART SUPPLIES, PILLOWS, HAIR BOWS so on & etc. if it is made for someone 12 & under to use it will be subject to the certified testing. Even HAND-ME-DOWNS as resales or vintage items will be subject to the testing. To read the whole “brief”, 67 pages long, requires some basic law education but you can get the gist of it in the CPSIA’s FAQ section“
This new law is blindsiding us by giving very little notice to comply to it, if we’re even able to provide the proofs the the CPSC wants. It’s been so under the radar the ETSY doesn’t have a STORQUE article on it yet. Niether has eBay or most of the other online seller’s outlets even mention the new law. I think there waiting for after the holidays to tells us that lots of the items we bought are now effectively illegal and that we should of never given them to our children in the first place. There should be some type of grandfathering clause included that parents shouldn’t have to shell out more good money if they feel their child is in danger just because the government said the product is not longer safe.
This will put quite a few of us out of business. Even larger companies are having problems complying with the deadline or the batch material testing requirements. Here a set of excerpts from a recent CPSIA hearing.
Many items that were legal this holiday season will be banned come Feb. 10, 2009 regardless of if the child’s product was a handheld video game by a super multinational corporation, a made in the USA pair of jeans from a local mom & pop retailer, or one of the fantastic wooden toys available at ETSY shops because it failed testing & needs to be reworked or wasn’t tested yet. This means it would even be illegal and punishable by fines and jail time to resell or reuse, outside your own home, those items in anything that that would be for a child unless they were previously tested. So no one, even a consumer looking to green up the Earth a little, could list a child’s items as vintage piece at ETSY or a sell it as used on eBay or at a garage sale without it having the the testing done.”
You can read more about this topic at National Bankruptcy Day and if you’re interested in trying to help you can visit Handmade Toy Alliance where you can find even more information as well as information on how to help and a sample letter if you’re interested in contacting your Congress Person and/or Senator.
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It is just heartbreaking how our government does things like this. They dont even consider all the small businesses that are affected. Ugh!
It sounds like the gov don’t want handmade business to run around. : -[
This sucks!