Save Handmade Toys From the CPSIA

Kidoinfo wants safe and creative toys for our children and we support artists and their handmade goods all year long. But as some of you may already know, handmade goods in North America and Europe are under attack. This is a call to action.

You’ve heard about the large toy manufacturers who outsource production to China (and other countries) selling toys with dangerously high lead content, unsafe small parts, improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.

The US Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the United States, so in August of ’08, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). Among the good things the legislation does, like banning lead and phthalates in toys, it mandates third-party testing and certification for ALL toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

These changes will be easy for the large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with—those who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and updating their plastics molds to include batch labels. But for small North American and European toymakers—especially those who hand-craft their goods—the costs of mandatory testing (up to $4,000 per toy) will likely drive them out of business. The CPSIA forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public’s trust.

Unless this law is modified, as of February 10, 2009, handmade toys made by small toymakers will no longer be legal in the USA. And we will all suffer if this happens. Thriving small businesses are crucial to the financial health of our nation. Let’s amend the CPSIA so that all businesses large and small are able to comply and survive.

Thanks for this update from Cecilia Leibovitz of CraftsburyKids.com and the Handmade Toy Alliance.

With your help, we can change this law. Here’s How:

1. Sign the petition.

2. Vote to modify the CPSIA on change.org. Your vote will help bring this important issue to President-Elect Obama on Inauguration Day.

3. Please write to your US Congress Person and Senator to request changes in the CPSIA. Use this sample letter or write your own.

4. Join the “save handmade” Facebook group.

5. Join the CPSIA discussion group.

6. Tell your friends—please forward this post.