The
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) is overly broad in
its focus and puts unrealistic testing costs on small businesses that
were already providing safe products. The result is a decreased
capacity to protect consumers, and severe financial hardship for
small businesses.
What should Congress
do?
The
CPSC has indicated that they are unable to fix the unintended
consequences of the CPSIA without a technical amendment from
Congress. We are seeking:
-
Component-based
testing so that suppliers of
our raw materials could provide the children’s product
manufacturer with certification of compliance within the law, which
would eliminate the need for redundant and costly unit-based
testing. Safety would be improved by driving compliance upstream in
the supply chain, catching non-compliant materials prior to
distribution, practically eliminating the chance that any given
finished unit would be non-compliant.
-
Exemptions
from testing for materials
known by science not to pose a lead or phthalate contamination
hazard, such as fabrics, certified organic materials, and many
natural materials such as wood, paper and bamboo. Manufacturers
would be spared the costs of testing these materials and testing
labs and the CPSC could better focus their efforts on high-risk
materials such as metals and paints.
-
Harmonization
with European Standards.
Accepting the stringent EU standards in the United States as
sufficient for the requirements of CPSIA would save countless US
businesses that import from or export to the EU from the costs of
performing multiple tests. US and EU regulators would be able to
work together to oversee the global marketplace.
-
Exempt
permanent batch labeling of
products for hand crafted and micro businesses that have small batch
runs. While permanent labeling may be efficient with large runs of
plastic products, it would be extremely difficult and cost
prohibitive for small batches made from wood or fabric. We have also joined with other groups to request a one-year stay of these labeling requirements. The US Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy has backed the HTA position on tracking labels, citing the Regulatory Flexibility Act, a federal law designed to protect small businesses.
- Revisit the retroactivity of the CPSIA based on a risk-based approach.
We've written our own language for the technical amendments we need Congress to enact, which we call "Seeds of Change: Five Changes
Small Batch Toymakers, Crafters, Retailers, and Garment Makers Need to Survive the CPSIA".
The Result
Fixing the CPSIA
now before
any more
law-abiding and well-intentioned small companies are forced out of
business will preserve the integrity of the original legislation,
prevent political backlash, and refocuses the efforts of the CPSC to
fulfill the law’s original purpose. To date, some
businesses have discontinued their children's lines or have closed
altogether. Libraries are sequestering children’s books printed
prior to 1985. Thrift stores have removed children's products from
their shelves. Several European toy manufacturers have pulled out of
the US market. ATV
and motor bike manufacturers and storefronts have removed inventory
intended for children 12 and under, including replacement parts.
Without common sense changes to the CPSIA, the tragic result will in
fact not be increased product safety, but the closing of small
businesses that were already providing safe products.
About the
Handmade Toy Alliance
The Handmade Toy
Alliance represents small toymakers, children's product
manufacturers, and independent retailers whose businesses cannot
survive without repairing the CPSIA. We believe that these changes
will not only help our businesses, but many other companies large and
small who have been caught in a snarl of unintended consequences,
affecting everything from apparel to educational materials for
children with disabilities. We need common sense reform to preserve
the heart and soul of American toys and children's products.
Handmade Toy Alliance Seeds of Change - | 
