Little Lizzie

WooHoo thank you Senator DeMint! This just in CPSC issues a stay...

Looks like Senator DeMint of South Carolina will be introducing legislation next week to reform CPSIA. It seeks to delay the enforcement 6 months, allow component testing, prevent retro-active enforcement and require the CPSC to publish a small business compliance guide for those of us who don't have a multitude of staff to help figure this stuff out. You can read Senator DeMint's proposal on his site here

Let's hope this gets traction before the small fish get fried.

*Update*  Apparently the CPSC is issuing a stay in enforcement of CPSIA for one year to sort it all out. You can see the statement here

Thanks goodness! Hopefully we can get things worked out by 2/10/10 so that reasonable testing can be accessed and completed by all businesses large or small that cater to children.

Get some great deals!

Due to the madness known as CPSIA there are a lot of deals to be found. Sally over at the Polka Dot Mom posted some of her finds on etsy and I too have seen a lot of people just trying to get rid of their merchandise before it becomes banned as a hazardous material. You can search CPSIA Sale on etsy and find scads of items. I definitely need to get Claire some hair clips and I think these are adorable from HairSprinkles.
  

Baby Vagabond has some cute baby dresses on sale.

 I love these personalized towels from  Plain Jane Baby's shop
 

You can get some really cute Robot finger puppets from  Little Bird Creations
 

The list goes on and on but it gets depressing thinking about all the great items that will be unavailable in a matter of weeks. So get them while you can...and hope that someone with any sense can make some changes to this legislation before it puts too many people out of business.

More fun with CPSIA

So I thought I'd have a little fun *said in my most sarcastic voice* and give a few examples of the cost of testing products so that they comply with the new CPSIA. To be completely honest I haven't listed on ebay in a good long while as I've been busy with kids but I can post a few examples of items that sold and how much they would cost to test now. So here was my best selling item on ebay. This strawberry outfit sold fo $120. Now trust me the big sellers on ebay got that and a lot more for their offerings but I didn't list a ton so I'd say I was more like a medium fish in a large pond ;)

So this little dress and bloomers has a lot of tiny details which I love to add to my items. Off the top of my head here's what makes the outfit
*5 different fabrics
*2 different elastics
*2 different types of ric-rac trims
*3 different types of buttons
*4 different types of thread

@ $70 per component that comes to $1,120.00 to test this dress set. I am not including phthalates testing in this but if I did that would an extra $350 per component.

Here's one of my favs

*3 different fabrics
*3 different kinds of thread
*2 different kinds of elastic
Total cost to test: $560.00  ooh much more reasonable
Forget the flower in her hair I'm ignoring that lol!

You get the point...it's just silly and absurd.

I got this idea from a few etsy sellers who decided to give an example of what their items would cost if they had to test. You see some of the listings here.

Glimmer of hope...

Well the CPSC just exempted all resalers from the new law. We'll all still be able to buy from resale shops and sales. They basically said that resalers were exempt but still liable if they sold something that exceeded the new lead limits. Here's the official info:

CPSC Clarifies Requirements of New Children�s Product Safety Laws Taking Effect in February Guidance Intended for Resellers of Children�s Products, Thrift and Consignment Stores

The other thing that happened is that the Commission voted to exempt certain materials from testing and I've already seen a couple articles about it.

Bloomberg article

and

LA Times article

Don't start jumping up and down yet folks. Both of these articles make statements like this:

Bloomberg: "The two-member commission, reacting to complaints from manufacturers, also agreed to exempt natural products such as gems and cotton from mandatory testing for lead."

LA Times: "The commission's two members (a third seat is vacant) voted tentatively to exempt:
* Items with lead parts that a child cannot access;
* Clothing, toys and other goods made of natural materials such as cotton and wood"

But wait! The official vote states: "The staff recommends that these findings only apply to a material that is untreated and unadulterated by the addition of materials or chemicals including pigments, dyes, coats, finishes or any other substance, and has not undergone any processing that could result in lead content that exceeds the CPSIA lead limits"

So if you like color in your life this does not apply to you ;) I'm not scoffing at it completely. I think it shows some movement I just hope there's more movement to come. Here's a video of one of my local news stations covering the new legislation.

CPSIA- ALL THE HAPPY stolen from FUN DOUGH by EXPENSIVE TESTING Fox4 Dallas

  

Why most of us moms who sew will be out of business on Feb. 10th CPSIA

Last August the CPSIA Consumer product Safety Improvement Act was signed into law. The aim of the law is to protect children from toxic items. Anything and everything that is made for a child 12 years and under is subject to this law. It has to be tested for lead and depending on the item for phthalates and or flammability if it's loungewear or sleepwear. This will kill all of us little guys that stay home with our kids and make items and sell them from our home. We will not be able to afford the testing unless the standards for testing are amended in some way.

Please read this article by Heather Flottman titled The Sky is Falling for an easy to understand exlpanation of what this means for us who produce handmade items and for the consumer.

Also, you might think that us little guys could fly under the radar but Etsy and Ebay have already stated that they enforce all CPSC regulations and as of Feb 10th if you don't have documentation from a third party laboratory that your item is safe, it is considered HAZARDOUS. 

This is retroactive so expect to see this affect any and all resale shops and sales. In the end we will all have to pay more for less variety of items for our children.

Here's a Wall Street Journal article on the effects of the law.

Rick Woldenberg, the chairman of Learning Resources which was mentioned in the WSJ article has a few Youtube videos titled Response to CPSIA Implementation that are from a CPSC panel from early November. You can see what this family owned company has done and will have to do to comply and what it will cost them. 

For even more in depth discussion on the law, how to comply, and what should be changed amended visit the CPSIA and Consumer Safety forum on the Fashion Incubator site.