CPSIA Update, part II

From Etsy:

Many of our members are aware of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) and the resulting sense of confusion sellers of children's items are experiencing. These sellers need to know how the legislation will impact their businesses and need to be informed.

The CPSIA is by no means a done deal. We are in conversations with the executive director of the CPSC, and they are listening to the micro-business community! Discussion is ongoing: makers and supporters of handmade and vintage items still need to voice concerns.

In light of this need for information, discussion, and feedback hinging on this important CPSIA issue, Etsy has launched a special temporary forum. Please post any relevant threads there.

Furthermore, for up to the minute info on the CPSIA, we would like to refer folks who are involved or concerned about the CPSIA issue to BuyHandmade.org's new blog, which includes resources and news updates. The Etsy homepage now proudly sports the new badge from BuyHandmade.org, reflecting the focus on this issue.

Please take the Buy Handmade Pledge and show your support for sellers of children's items by placing the badge on your websites and blogs.

CPSIA Update

Change.org needs your vote again!

Thank you so much for your support of the Handmade Toy Alliance. Membership numbers continue to grow and they have been receiving many positive press responses. They have issued letters to the Consumer Protection Safety Commission, responding to the agencies requests for comments on the CPSIA. Many of us have contacted our Congress People, hoping for their support in changing the law.

Currently, the Handmade Toy Alliance is in the running to have this issue presented to President-elect Obama, but they need your help to make this happen. Please vote to save small businesses from the CPSIA here.

The Handmade Toy Alliance remains grateful to all of you, your trust in our products and your ability to work with us to make a positive change in this legislation.

www.handmadetoyalliance.org

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

The Handmade Landscape

The following article and video was featured in the Storque on December 10th. In February of 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act will go into effect. Handmade toys and children's clothing will be illegal in the United States unless small businesses and independent crafters pay thousands of dollars for third party testing. The handmade landscape will change dramatically unless this act is amended. Please visit the Handmade Toy Alliance for more information.

Amber Dusick, aka woodmouse and Los Angeles-based toy-maker/work-at-home-mama, is an artist who would be impacted by this proposed legislation if it is enacted. Amber uses sustainably harvested woods, non-toxic paints and beeswax along with her wood-burning tool to create simple, natural wooden toys. Her imagery is reminiscent of a child's crayon drawing come to life in wood.

Amber, like other Etsy toy makers and sellers, is fearful that as a sole proprietor she will not be able to afford the stricter regulations of the Act; the cost of testing and certification is likely beyond her means. She told Etsy, “I'd be more than happy to have each of my toys tested, if it wasn't so cost prohibitive. It is the COST involved in testing that will shut us down, it isn't that anyone refuses to have their work tested."

The Small Business Administration defines "small business" as under 500 employees. Most of our Etsy members are either sole proprietors or maybe a family or studio of friends working together. Many craftspeople on Etsy have told us that they could be put out of business if forced to comply with the proposed legislation. This is the painful irony bound up in the CPSIA.

The U.S. House and Senate passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (the CPSIA), and on August 14, 2008, President Bush signed the Act into law. Further information on the Act is available at the CPSC website and helpful FAQs are located here.