I've been putting off writing this mainly in hopes that some solid information would show up and save my business. Many of you who buy handmade have already heard of the new CSPA & CSPIA laws that go into effect next month. For those who haven't to sum it up the new laws require ALL items made for children 12 and under to be tested for lead. Sounds good right, no more toxic toys from other countries. BUT to me it means I will no longer ba able to produce baby and toddler clothing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the testing. What I am against is the extremes that we have to go through, and the pricing per test (any where between $500- $1000 each test). Some items require more than one test. I've been keeping up with most of the updates, however I'm still very confussed as to what will happen. I've read now that one of a kind items will not require testing, which helps some small businesses not mine though. I hand print, sew clothing and make tutus, they are not one of a kind. I create a design and make each item, but since I make mulitple of the item I am not exempt from this law. The onesies I print on will already be tested before I buy them, as is the ink, fabric, thread, elastic and everything else that goes into making my products. So why should I have to test again, is there some kind of chemical reaction that will happen once I put the ink on the fabric. I'm not a chemist but I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Excuse me if I'm starting to ramble. I'm growing impatient trying to figure out what will happen to my business as well as the other million small businesses that will be effected. I've worked so hard for the past two years to pick up all the clients I now have and can't imagine all this hard work going to waste.
I hope that those of you who support small business will do your part and sign the petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/?e
Also write to congress and ask them to reconsider, rewrite the law to help save us small business owners.
From today until Feb. 10 I will feature companies that will be effected with this law. All these items will no longer be legal to sell or buy after Feb. 10 if nothing is done.
1 comment:
That's nuts! If only you could submit materials you use to be tested or even use pre-approved materials and then get some sort of certification that your products are lead free. I understand them wanting to make it difficult for large companies to produce products with lead but surely there's some way that this can work without being totally detrimental to small businesses like yours.
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