I’ve been avoiding talking about the CPSIA. Honestly, when I first heard about it I figured that handmade items would be exempt but no, our little babies wearing toxic handmade dresses and carrying around contraband blankies will probably be slapped in jail. Well good for you federal government! You win! You feed these guys and change their diapers, good luck to you. Also, we’ll all be on welfare since we are not allowed to make a living anymore.
I’m not going to get into the law that is going into effect on Feb 10th as there are many places on the internet where you can read people freaking out and desperately trying to interpret a vague and stupid law. I will say, if you don’t know, that you should at the very least write to your congresspeople.
Write to your representative: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
write to your senator: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Those two sites are great because you can search your state, etc to find the right people to write.
I think that all the small time people should just keep selling. The federal government is not going to be knocking down your door demanding your testing info and I’m pretty sure anyone who buys your hand screen printed baby shirt isn’t going to demand a certificate either.
The Jan8th press release from the CPSIA folks has this paragraph,
“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.
…While CPSC expects every company to comply fully with the new laws resellers should pay special attention to certain product categories. Among these are recalled children’s products, particularly cribs and play yards; children’s products that may contain lead, such as children’s jewelry and painted wooden or metal toys; flimsily made toys that are easily breakable into small parts; toys that lack the required age warnings; and dolls and stuffed toys that have buttons, eyes, noses or other small parts that are not securely fastened and could present a choking hazard for young children.”
To me that reads like an easy out for many indie businesses, use safety eyes and noses for your stuffies or switch to using yarn, double check the inks you are using, only buy fabric printed in your country of business, etc.
I understand that many of you out there are upstanding law abiding citizens and you are going to do your best to comply or, worse, actually go out of business (please don’t!).
So, I invite any indie business that has decided to go out of business to write to me and I will feature your shop’s going out of business sale.
I plan on donning a ski mask and running out to my studio to start making contraband baby blankets stuffed with drugs and choking hazards. But then, I am a REBEL.
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