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Wow. I know a couple of wooden toy makers and sellers from a few of the shows we've done. I'm sure this'll not be good news for them.
 
Chuck, thanks for the heads up on that. Will try to do some research over Christmas vacation and see what is up. My students do some toys for underprivileged elementary students. I understand the need for secure parts and parts no smaller than can be a choking hazard and other problems like single smoke stacks on wooden tractors for little ones, but an elimination? Soci whoops, becoming political, will stop here.
 
Frank you are right, except, they forgot to put a floor number in so technically, with no change, more than one will make you an illegal toymaker.

Here is what I found on one site:

The issue:
In 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to China and other developing countries violated the public's trust. They were selling toys with dangerously high lead content, toys with unsafe small part, toys with 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 United States Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US. So, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and update their molds to include batch labels.



For small American, Canadian, and European toymakers, however, the costs of mandatory testing will likely drive them out of business.


A toymaker, for example, who makes wooden cars in his garage in Maine to supplement his income cannot afford the $4,000 fee per toy that testing labs are charging to assure compliance with the CPSIA.
A work at home mom in Minnesota who makes dolls to sell at craft fairs must choose either to violate the law or cease operations.
A small toy retailer in Vermont who imports wooden toys from Europe, which has long had stringent toy safety standards, must now pay for testing on every toy they import.
And even the handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.


The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public's trust: Toys made in the US, Canada, and Europe. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade toys will no longer be legal in the US.

If this law had been applied to the food industry, every farmers market in the country would be forced to close while Kraft and Dole prospered.

How You can Help:
Please write to your United States Congress Person and Senator to request changes in the CPSIA to save handmade toys. Use our sample letter or write your own. You can find your Congress Person here and Senator here.
 
Petition address included

Regardless if you make toys now, (bandsaw boxes, tops, kaliedoscopes, yo-yo's, etc) this is a major mistake that if brought to politicians attention, before voting on it, if they follow Frank's suggestion of putting a floor number of less than 4,000 units produced we all will not be in compliance. So for ease, here is the address of the petition, it is easy to sign, the second page asks for a donation, but at the top states the signature is received and noted so I personally did not donate as I don't have paypal. If you feel so inclined, here is the address.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/handmadetoys/
 
A better bet would be for folks to contact their individual reps via telephone, email and snail mail. I don't know that an internet petition is gonna have much weight. Couldn't hurt, but might be better to download a copy, sign it, and send it off in the mail.
 
Jonathan Shively said:
Regardless if you make toys now, (bandsaw boxes, tops, kaleidoscopes, yo-yo's, etc) this is a major mistake that if brought to politicians attention, before voting on it, if they follow Frank's suggestion of putting a floor number of less than 4,000 units produced we all will not be in compliance. So for ease, here is the address of the petition, it is easy to sign, the second page asks for a donation, but at the top states the signature is received and noted so I personally did not donate as I don't have paypal. If you feel so inclined, here is the address.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/handmadetoys/
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, your elected politicians don't get to vote on this. CPSC creates and enforces regulations, not laws. Regulations, once adopted by CPSC, become part of the U.S. Code of Regulations - in this case, Title 16, §1500_. - the "Consumer Protection Acts."

FWIW, the same situation holds true for EPA's anti-pollution regulations. They're enacted, not voted into law.

So, you (we) can petition CPSC for modification/change to the regulation, or you (we) can ask our elected officials to lobby CPSC on our behalf, but that's about all.
 
Actually, I believe that the way it works is that the legislature writes a new law in which it describes the disposition to be had and gives the authority to obtain that disposition to either an existing Federal Agency, or it creates a new one. The rules/regulations to obtain the disposition are then written by the agency of responsibility.

From the website referenced by Mr. Shively: The United States Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US. So, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

Emphasis added.
 
So, you (we) can petition CPSC for modification/change to the regulation, or you (we) can ask our elected officials to lobby CPSC on our behalf, but that's about all.
______________

We could have the same requirements for the CPSC that they have at the animal shelters before they adopt out a pet this way it may help protect us from a second generation brain dead people.
 
Wahsington had become a bad joke. They sell us out to the highest bidder. If we don't start getting some good old boys in the gov. we might as well start learning Chinese
Reg :eek:
I fought for this gov, I'll fight to get rid of it.
 
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