I’m really nervous and alarmed.  “On August 14th, 2008, Congress passed the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (pdf) into law. But when the act was passed, tucked away in section 102 was a regulatory certification requirement that applies to ANY manufacturer, importer or private labeler of ANY consumer product.” A big grassroots campaign is starting tomorrow to try to educate everyone that a good intended law is going to send us all out of business. This applies to all products intended for children 12 and under.

To quote Kathleen Fasanella of Fashion-Incubator.com:

“To recap, this law was passed (424 votes to 1) to protect children from unsafe toys after last year’s widely publicized recalls (by the way, recalls have actually decreased by 46%). What few consumers realize is this legislation affects more than toys. What few clothing manufacturers realize is this also affects them. Of the ones who do know, most of them think it only applies to children’s clothes. Other than apparel the law includes diapers, blankets (housewares), books, videos, computer and electronic products, strollers, cribs, car seats, and anything humans come in contact with in their environment. Our objections are not higher standards for product safety or even the costs involved per se. The problem is Congress wrote the law and forced the CPSC to implement it before the regulations were written. These regulations are not written by people who are familiar with manufacturing and thus, impose unnecessary burdens.”

You can read the complete article here:

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/national-bankruptcy-day/#comment-11777

It is still unclear to me if this will include printed on fabric. Will this mean our screen printed shirts would have to be tested? The fabric I make my baby items out of? (UPDATE: Yes it does. I have to test every different colorway for my baby products).

This will include anyone that makes and sells products that include these items on Etsy, ebay, mom & pop shops or any small manufacturer. The big problem is the cost to do these tests would put us all out of business. I have seen cost ranges from $300 for one piece/item up to thousands for a single line of apparel. Each different type of item that makes up your product would have to be tested. That could really get expensive. No small manufacture would be able to stay in business. Only the large chains could afford it, plus you know in the end, it will be the consumer that will have to pay for it. In this economy, this is the last thing we need.

So please, read the article above. It’s a little long and technical but come Feb. 10th a huge amount of us little guys might have to shut our doors.

Thanks for listening and I’ll post updates soon on how to contact your congressman, etc….Pass the word!

Update: Here is a petition you can sign! We are the opposition and we need to be heard!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/

Tags: conformity requirements, CPSIA, fashion-incubator, lead paint, new law, small manufactures