New CPSIA Regulations

I am all for legislation to protect our children. In light of the recent issues with lead and other hazardous chemicals on and in the toys and other products intended for children, I KNOW that something has to change. It is time to create effective legislation that will aid parents in securing healthy products for their children. However, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement ACT (CPSIA) goes well beyond this goal and into bankrupting many many small businesses. The act requires testing on every component of a product for each color and batch. This testing is quite expensive ($500-$4000 per component) and would have to be repeated for every new batch and color. As a home crafter of children's products (baby and doll slings, hats and clothing) I would have to test to the tune of $2500-$20,000 per item. I am not the only one in this position and hand crafters are not the only ones being effected. Large corporations will have to do this testing too, of course they have teh legal resources to find the loop holes in these sorts of laws. Consumers will no longer have the option of buying handmade items from WAHM's or other Artisians just trying to make ends meet in todays economy. Instead, they will be required t purchase from large unfeeling manufacter's and settle for the limited variety of higher priced (to absorb the testing costs) items available. Grandpa can no longer hand carve wood toys to sell at a craft sale, grandmas baby quilt will be considered contraband, and I will be sitting along side them doing jail time and paying fines of $100,000 per item!! There are many proposed solutions that would result in a winning situation for all involved. One of them is outlined here http://twurl.nl/4y520m would allow for full compliance among trusted countries (and within our own) requiring testing only when a product is under suspicion. Countries that have proven themselves to be untrustworthy due lead and other hazardous chemical levels would still be held to the testing. It certainly would make an excellent arguement for the "Buy American Made" campaign. There is an excellent article that explains this entire situation even better then I can. You will find it at http://grecowoodcrafting.wordpress.com/ . This is another homecrafter who like me, is deeply concerned with both the issue of protecting our children and protecting our livelihood. Please read the informaytion and consider contacting your congressmen regarding this issue.

Blessngs, KimO