Maybe I haven't been paying attention in the right places, but the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in the US just came to my attention. Basically, it will require lab certification that lead and phthalates are not present in toys or clothes. This is a good thing, I'm sure we can all agree. Except that I don't know of any small, independent toy-maker that can afford the $4000 per toy-line that the testing labs are charging. I guess whoever wrote the law forgot about all us little folk who make toys on a small scale to suplement their income.
Luckily, I'm Canadian so I could still sell toys to individuals in the US, although I couldn't sell toys wholesale to American shops without getting my toys certified. For any Americans who read or participate in the blog, I hope you check out the Handmade Toy Alliance for more information, and do what you can for all crafters in the US. Also, if you know of anywhere else with information on this, leave a link in the comments so we can all be more informed.
1 comment:
I understood that yes, as a non-American crafter you can sell toys to individuals in the US even if said toys aren't CPSIA certified, but should something go wrong, you face astounding fines. This thing isn't good for anyone.
This whole CPSIA business is really scary, and I'm waiting with trepidation to see how it'll pan out, even though I'm not American.
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