!!!!! New law = illegal to sell handmade goods

[Luanne]

Please read this article!!! If you feel as strongly as I do, please follow the link at the bottom of the page and email (Sec102ComponentPawrtsTesting@cpsc.gov) the powers that be to stop it, if they can. If you don't feel strong about it, please don't hyjack.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/264507

[ChristyB]

Banging my head against the wall (again)

[tichwoli]

this is just ridiculous - how would they ever enforce it with so many hundreds of thousands of people involved?

[neith]

there's got to wind up being some sort of middle ground with this...

but, i must add that my old mother of twins club regularly told members about recalled items and would have long lists of them when we had our tag sales (up to 40 members selling their old kids' items in a large church hall/classrooms) and had bans on certain items (like used car seats)... if anything was in question, the ladies running the sale would pull the items... but you go to other sales and you see tons of recalled items... i do think it's important to pull known recalled items out of resale places.. plus many companies offer owners refunds or other compensation without requiring the entire product to be sent back.... so you never know if those ebay vendors are knowingly selling recalled items while getting a kickback from the mfgr at the same time.

as far as kids toys go, when the kids were little i only bought well known toys or small locally made wooden ones, i'd buy second hand, but only things that i recognized and when i resold a toy, if i didn't have the packaging i'd try to print up a detailed tag about it and the regular retail pricing... i know that i liked knowing the recommended ages, etc for things i bought for my kids and at the sales you'd get so many questions but sometimes noone could be found with the answers handy.

[neith]

Here's the full law... http://www.cpsc.gov/cpsia.pdf

It does say only for certain types of products and lists those with small parts or potential lead paint as well as cribs, children's metal jewelry, baby bouncers/walkers/jumpers and then some catch all paragraph, not sure what is "caught' by it though... the specific types of items mentioned are ones that I'd say need testing anyhow or to use existing products designated for kids, metal jewelry parts that are certified lead free... I know I'd not want to make metal jewelry for young kids without knowing it's safe and only using products guaranteed safe. I've got to guess that if you don't manufacture the parts but can show that the manufacturers have certified it that you'd be ok... and small parts, it's not clear if they say it's for only under 3 or for all kids. With paints, I'd also guess that if you can show the mfgr guarantees it then you may be ok.

I'm really hoping that wen enacted they will do things in that manner

[Lynn K]

The email link at the bottom of that page is not a valid email. I got a mail demon response.

[pamcook]

Um, how about they regulate the banking industry instead?

[neith]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28624063/

The CPSC recently clarified that toys made of wood or cotton are exempt.

http://www.action3news.com/Global/story ... =menu550_2

Sellers of used children's products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.

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.

Yeah, OK? I guess they will have to have a large database with photos of items known to be against the new law and then avoid everything else... I bet many stores will go under, which also means we can't resell items easily to those stores. Our Salvation Army stores stopped accepting children's toys a few years ago.. they have some usually, but typically dispose of donated items... I used to love shopping there... we had such strange little peanut girls and I needed smaller versions of everything, couldn't find them new, but could find short enough ride ons and other developmental toys for my girls used... and it was all nothing I could order online without seeing it in person first... so used was the way to go!

Oh and no ebay:

The law also prohibits selling old baby products on line or at a yard sale, without a certificate proving the item has been determined to be lead-free.

http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/n ... 20634.html

An amendment was made to the strict policy Thursday, January 8. Now sellers of used children's products don't have to certify that toys and clothes meet the new lead limits. But the new amendment doesn't exempt people who sell home-made products out of their home or on E-Bay.

[EDelValle]

It seems like society or government
is again taking on the responsibility
of parents who should be watching what
they are buying or allowing their children
to play with.
There are items on the market today,
that if I had small children, I would never
allow them to have for their own safety.
But, obviously, not every parent is as
watchful as they should be, or the products
would not be on the market.
As far as handmade items are concerned, if
I didn't know the person that made it, I
most likely would not buy it for a young child.
There are too many people today that do things
that are not quite on the up and up just
for the almighty dollar.
And, usually if something is in the works to
regulate something, no matter what it is,
thwere is a background story to go with that
regulating.
Has there been any mention of children being
harmed in any way that brought this new
attempt at regulation of hand made toys and
children's items?

[Kellacious]

Has there been any mention of children being harmed in any way that brought this new attempt at regulation of hand made toys and children's items?

Elizabeth, you probably didn't catch the case of the child who swallowed the aqua dots that turned into a harmful substance in his system and almost caused his death. This is only the first example I can think of offhand that started this.



What I imagine has happened is that congress started with a bill to regulate out of country manufacturers and prevent them from introducing harmful consumer products that don't meet American manufacturing standards. We've put safeguards in place for goods manufactured here and require them to meet standards that have been tested and ultimately end up in a better, safer product for consumers. That's why foreign-produced goods tend to be cheaper: no labor regulation (think children working in sweat shops) and no required safety standards for the end consumer.

What *probably* happened to make it this convoluted mess is the lobbyists for the foreign manufacturers (many with domestic company origins) screamed at being singled out and wanted the language to be broader so others will have an increase in cost, thereby not giving any one supplier an 'unfair' advantage.

I know none of this for fact, but it seems that is how bills that go through congress get this complicated and out of hand. What started as a good thing has now become too unwieldy to even regulate, so its effectiveness is questionable (which is what the non-compliant manufacturers wanted out of the whole thing IMHO).

HTH,

Kelli

[neith]

There have been a ton of toys (and other products) in the headlines all year about kids (and animals) harmed or killed by products from China.

But, like you, I didn't buy handmade toys for my kids when they were younger and mouthed things... clothing/blankets/hooded towels were a little different and I gladly accepted gifts of hand knit/crochet items and the hand sewn hooded towels and boo boo bunnies... and we had one wooden puzzle that was made in new england from a small company with a very good reputation... plus we made a few block puzzles and finger puppets/handpuppets as party favors from the kids to their friends.

[Cyndy]

neith, you are a monster researcher! Thank you for the expanded info.