Friday, December 12, 2008

Help Save Handmade Toys

This just in from Cool Mom Picks:

We need your help to save handmade toys,
[clothing, shoes, and more] in the US, Europe and Canada from the CPSIA. The CPSC passed the ill-conceived Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act which goes into effect in two months and will absolutely decimate the small toy manufacturers, independent artisans, and crafters who have already earned the public trust. ... They will all go out of business. Period.

Moms who sew beautiful handmade waldorf dolls out of home, artists who have spent decades hand-carving trucks and cars out of natural woods, that guy at the craft show who sold you the cute handmade puzzle--even larger US companies who employ local workers and have not once had any sort of safety issue will no longer be able to sell their toys. Not without investing tens of thousands of dollars into third-party testing and labeling, just to prove that toys that never had a single chemical in them still don't have a single chemical in them.

In other words, handmade toys will now be illegal.

Click here to read more.

I've already written to my congresswoman, senators and the CPCS. While I'm not a mother and am not a kid, I think it's important for crafters who make a living making toys, clothing and more for children to continue their existence. American entrepreneurs should not be punished for lack of testing on China's part.

2 comments:

Meghann said...

Good for you! It's interesting to note how they don't mention that standards are supposed to be stricter on items coming from other countries like, say, China? I don't get it. Local Handmade is generally safer, and yet we are the ones being punished for another country's laziness and stupidity. Punish that country, not us! Make importing harder, don't put our neighbors and families out of business! Given the state of the economy, it is ridiculous that they are handing out rubbish like this now, knowing that it will put locals in the unemployment and food stamp lines.

Anonymous said...

and they're all trying to help the small business, well so they say.