Find Out Why the New Product Safety Law (CPSIA) Will NOT Protect Your Child

There is a big debate happening right now regarding the CPSIA’s new laws and regulations regarding toys that will be able to be manufactured after February 2009.  A debate AND a good amount of confusion on all the details.

For the most part, if you are a small ‘Ma-n-Pa’ company or boutique making products for children under the age of 12, you very well may be going right out of business, very soon.

NOT DUE TO THE ECONOMY, but due to the mandatory certification/testing fees, costing companies hundreds to thousands of dollars, PER TOY, CLOTHING ITEM, DIAPER BAG, ETC.  Pretty much anything intended for use of any child under the age of 12, as of February, will have to be re-certified here in the US.  Even if it has passed safety standards in Europe already.

How does this affect your child?

The Improvement Act and Your Child

Well, some of your favorite toy manufacturers, (some of the safest up to date too) may be forced to pull out of selling toys here in the USA.

The potential cost to small companies wishing to sell safe toys in the US seems ludicrous to us.  Why is this fee so high?  Why does a company, such as Selecta, have to get more certifications here when they already passed safety certifications that match, or exceed, the ones we have in the US?

Safety Standards and Keeping Corporations Rich

SAFbaby’s #1 concern is for the safety of our children!   And finally (as of any toy made after Feb. 10, 2009, but due to the revision NOT sold after Feb), the US will have safety standards for our toys that match those of nations such as Europe and Japan!  Finally!  But, there are some things we are finding very fishy with all of this too.

All of which makes us believe that these new fees for certifications will only ultimately benefit big corporations, NOT benefit the well-being of our babies.

Let’s face it, how many companies will be able to afford this fee of up to thousands of dollars per toy (model) to get certified to sell in the US?  Well, maybe Mattel can afford this, but companies such as Selecta (a very respected European toy company) have already pulled out from the US market due to the cost of doing business here.

“But, shouldn’t all toys be tested here?” you may ask?  Well, in a case like Selecta, they have already passes such high safety standards there already.  So, the retesting here is redundant when it costs them so much money.

Revisions to this Improvement Act need, well…. IMPROVED!

Will This Huge Fee Keep Our Children Safer?

What does that do for our children?  We feel it shuts out the companies who have been producing safe toys for years (maybe decades) and only supports companies who have been routinely manufacturing their toys with hazardous chemicals and heavy metals to afford to stay in business.

This ultimately means that our children will have a much smaller selection of toys to choose from, and the big toy manufacturers are being supported to stay billionaires while respectable and trustworthy manufacturers who have always had our children’s safety as their top priority get thrown out of business.

Hummm?  Now whom is this Improvement Act out to protect SAFbaby wonders?  Big companies who are currently loosing money to safer companies (such as Selecta, Sarah’s Silks, Holztiger) or our children?

We want to believe the intention was right, but that revisions still need to be taken.  Please help us make that happen….

Take Action Now

Let’s just say that we HAVE signed the petition to “Help Save Handmade Toys in the USA from the CPSIA!”

The Handmade Toy Alliance has written up a great proposal to improve the CPSIA and you can join the forces to and sign the petition today to help bring justice to improve the regulations to selling toys in the USA.

Will you join us?  Sign this petition to President Elect Obama now.

Contact your representatives:
www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml

Contact your senators:
www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

and let them know that you want improvements to the CPSIA that will not run respectable and safe toy manufacturers/small businesses out of the US marketplace, at the same time keeping our kids safe.

Also, please stay tuned to SAFbaby for our up and coming interview with a very important expert on this topic!  We are happy to share these insider thoughts with you real soon.

Tags: astm f963, consumer product safety, Eco-friendly toys, lead-free toys, non-toxic car seat, non-toxic christmas, non-toxic toys, pvc-free toys, safety standards

Category: 0-1 yr, 1-3 yrs, 3-5 yrs, 5+ yrs, Car and Car Seats, Clothing, Diapering, Organic Cotton, Petition, Toys