This is a law that has good intentions but went overkill. It is a GUILTY unless you can PAY (and pay dearly) to PROVE you are innocent law. It will drive so many out of work, myself included. To test one 9.00 hair bow I have been quoted between 450.00 to 700.00 and that is for ONE BASIC hair bow on a fabric headband! They need to allow people like ourselves to use the safety testing results from our suppliers and not require our testing. Praying for changes and FAST!!

I am a wahm, a small business owner, designer and seamstress of made to order clothing for children. My livelihood, and the livelihood of every cottage-industry entrepreneur like me, is threatened with extinction when HR4040/ the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act or CPSIA goes into effect on February 10, 2009. 

Make no mistake, CPSIA was necessary in principle and has noble intentions, keeping our children safe and holding companies accountable for importing toxic toys. Unfortunately this legislation lacks common sense, is ambiguous and fails to take into account micro manufacturers and the handmade industry.  Unit testing will be required on all finished products, regardless if the components are natural materials, the manufacturing process could in no way introduce lead into the equation, or if you have documentation from vendors stating that the components are certified lead-free.

The required 3rd party lab unit testing is extremely cost prohibitive. My made-to-order articles of childrens clothing are 100% cotton and inherently lead.  XRF testing provides the necessary proof that quantities of lead are well within the CPSIA standards and offers a cost that is affordable to small businesses.  XRF testing will provide a General Certificate of Conformity which is required as of 2/10/09.  Unfortunately it will not be sufficient after Aug 2009.

All items will then need to be unit tested by a certified government lab. The cost quotes given to test in the manner laid out in the law will range from 0-00 per style depending on the number of substrates with the lowest price I could find being  a substrate.  All this just to show the same documentation as the XRF scanning as well as the documentation provided by my vendors showing that the components have already also been tested and meet lead guidelines.  The redundancy of the testing is unnecessary as allowing component testing and XRF will ensure safe products.  

Without that allowance my company will go out of business.  NOT because of the economy, but solely because of CPSIA.  Small micro manufacturers such as myself have no way of absorbing the price.  There is no economic recovery from it.

According to the 2002 Economic Census (the last survey of its type), small U.S. clothing manufacturers (with fewer than 20 employees) contribute over 0 million dollars [consider: nearly id="comment_list" billion dollars] annually to the economy and comprise 68% of total apparel manufacturing in the U.S. This is clearly a vital and contributing asset to our economy.  Multiply this fallout exponentially when you take into account the myriad other manufacturers, retailers and businesses that (manufacturer of sell items intended for children under the age of 12) will be hurt or ultimately driven out of business.

Here's an idea, lets start buying more handmade toys and stop buying toys manufacture from China.

I think it's worth contacting the CEO's of Walmart etc who don't want these things either. Petitions are great, but unfortunately corporations have a louder voice than we do. I know that the aforementioned "huge and soul-less" are generally the bane of a DIY existance, but perhaps they could be useful for something after all. Perhaps a a number of people calling and leaving messages for (or talking to) CEO's of these companies would let them know they have consumer support to fight the legislation. We may have petitions, but they have lobbyists ;). It may be a stupid idea, but it's a thought.

woah thanks for the link. i'm signing that petition ASAP!

so how are these ppl going to find out who we are to bill us these thousands of dollars? and im not clear with the whole 12 years old thing your custumer cant be that old? and if an adult made the purchase shouldnt it be there responsebility?

is this law just for things sold for kids or adults too?  also ive been thinking about this since i heard about it and i was wondering---things sold on etsy and other places are made out of fabric just for example.....if the crafter didnt sheer the sheep, cart the wool, spin the wool, and weave the wool into fabric, im sure they bought it from a craft store or larger company. Should testing come from the companies who manufacture the the material (be it fabric, yarn, what ever) not the person who buys it and makes it into something.  Are there any regulations for those companies?

I have signed the petition against this act.  Thank you for this post!!!  Even though I don't make or purchase childrens items, I know that some people can't afford new clothes and second hand is all they get.

FORTUNATELY! Today the CSPIA clarified that this doesn't include thrift stores!! 
I still dont care though, this guy is going down.

Thanks for linking to the mail-in protest!  I urge everyone to participate.  If you don't make children's products, you can participate by sending Rep. Rush an empty box containing a picture of an endangered item and complaining that it will not be available for you to buy after Feb. 10.  You can get a free box from the USPS, just ask for a Priority Mail box.  Make the box as big as possible for maximum effect!  (their biggest non-flat-rate box is 12"x12"x8")

This whole thing really saddens me.  The mistakes of the huge and soul-less are having tragic effects on the small and soul-filled!

in the basic information about the new law it says that items such as buttons, zippers, and snaps are some of the things that would have to be tested, since those are usually store bought instead of handcrafted from scratch, shouldn't the corperations that manufacture those pieces be held responsable for making sure that their stuff is safe for everyone, and lead-free?

To me, that´s just another way of control...It´s a real pitty and it´s one of the reasons why I´m sometimes thankfull to live in a third world country were (believe it or not) people live a healthy life without SO many rules.
There´s more poison for children in a TV show nowadays than in a handmade toy or shirt. *sighs*.