In this Discussion
- darbie_starpower February 2009
- jedi_grrlie February 2009
Help save handmade!
(I've only just found out about this, so I don't pretend to be an expert on the subject or about recent developments, about who's/what's been recently excluded and who hasn't, who's in charge of what, etc. But from what I can see, this is a good idea that was implemented in a not-so-great way.)
Last year, Congress passed a bill that called for the testing of products made for children under 12 for lead, following the lead-in-toys scare. Unfortunately, the law calls for every component of every style of every toy made for children under 12 to be tested by a third-party lab. This applies to not only big manufacturers but small-scale and homemade/handmade ones as well. And it doesn't just apply to toys but to clothing, furniture, school supplies, baby supplies, books, etc., as well. Anything intended for a child under 12. Average cost for testing each product could easily run over $1,000. I don't know about you, but I don't think that many people who are knitting kid's sweaters for extra income (something a lot of people could probably use nowadays) have $1,000 per sweater laying around to go towards testing.
Basically, Congress passed a law they thought would help protect children, while ignoring the fact that it will likely make thousands of handmade/homemade or small-scale manufacturers, charities (like those that make handmade toys for poorer children for the holidays), and possibly thrift stores (which don't have to test each individual item but can be held liable if they happen to sell an older item that happens to contain lead) and libraries (ya srsly) illegal operations or, again, liable if they happen to provide a product that contains lead. It also ignores the fact that, as this post points out, children aren't the most at-risk because of toys and clothing but because of old paint and pipes in buildings (including - you guessed it - schools) that haven't been renovated. Or the fact that it's quite possible taxes will go up, due to the fact that the price of school supplies and furniture now needs to be tested, which will make the price go up, which means that school in your neighbourhood will likely need to pay more for those items. And it ignores the fact that the US and EU have already long had stringent lead-testing regulations, which makes it kind of silly to have to test items made from US-produced components or toys coming from the EU. And the fact that it affects communities that benefit from (and are often dependent-upon) heritage-based arts and crafts.
Protecting children is a good thing, but making an umbrella-law that fails to see the realities of what its effects are is ludicrous. True, it may seem like a whole lot of upset when many homemade or handmade manufacturers are probably too small to attract much government attention ; then again, it really only takes one unreasonable person to blow the whistle.
The law goes into effect on 17th February. Here are a whole bunch of websites with more information and ways you can help:
Handmade Toy Alliance : http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/Home
and their How You Can Help page : http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/how-you-can-help
Two articles in Forbes about the law:
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2009/01/16/..._0116olson.html
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2009/01/22/..._0122olson.html
The article I mentioned above on how this probably affects you, the taxpayer:
http://fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com/413898.html
Reform CPSIA:
http://reformcpsia.org/
This bothers me not just because, dude, that sucks for a lot of people, but because, in essence, it's also an attack on the handmade, home-based arts and crafts industry. I don't mean "arts and crafts" as in "pasta necklaces you made for your mom when you were a kid." I'm talking about things like sewing, needlecraft, bookbinding, beadwork, woodwork, cultural- or heritage-based arts. All sorts of things. Craftwork is in our history, but we don't support it. This is another push from small-scale to huge corporation (because they're the companies that can afford testing on the products they import or create) and it limits competition in the marketplace (because now what happens if a majority of the handmade children's market disappears?). On the surface it doesn't look like much, but it's a bit frightening, in all honesty.
Annnd I'm done here.
Last year, Congress passed a bill that called for the testing of products made for children under 12 for lead, following the lead-in-toys scare. Unfortunately, the law calls for every component of every style of every toy made for children under 12 to be tested by a third-party lab. This applies to not only big manufacturers but small-scale and homemade/handmade ones as well. And it doesn't just apply to toys but to clothing, furniture, school supplies, baby supplies, books, etc., as well. Anything intended for a child under 12. Average cost for testing each product could easily run over $1,000. I don't know about you, but I don't think that many people who are knitting kid's sweaters for extra income (something a lot of people could probably use nowadays) have $1,000 per sweater laying around to go towards testing.
Basically, Congress passed a law they thought would help protect children, while ignoring the fact that it will likely make thousands of handmade/homemade or small-scale manufacturers, charities (like those that make handmade toys for poorer children for the holidays), and possibly thrift stores (which don't have to test each individual item but can be held liable if they happen to sell an older item that happens to contain lead) and libraries (ya srsly) illegal operations or, again, liable if they happen to provide a product that contains lead. It also ignores the fact that, as this post points out, children aren't the most at-risk because of toys and clothing but because of old paint and pipes in buildings (including - you guessed it - schools) that haven't been renovated. Or the fact that it's quite possible taxes will go up, due to the fact that the price of school supplies and furniture now needs to be tested, which will make the price go up, which means that school in your neighbourhood will likely need to pay more for those items. And it ignores the fact that the US and EU have already long had stringent lead-testing regulations, which makes it kind of silly to have to test items made from US-produced components or toys coming from the EU. And the fact that it affects communities that benefit from (and are often dependent-upon) heritage-based arts and crafts.
Protecting children is a good thing, but making an umbrella-law that fails to see the realities of what its effects are is ludicrous. True, it may seem like a whole lot of upset when many homemade or handmade manufacturers are probably too small to attract much government attention ; then again, it really only takes one unreasonable person to blow the whistle.
The law goes into effect on 17th February. Here are a whole bunch of websites with more information and ways you can help:
Handmade Toy Alliance : http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/Home
and their How You Can Help page : http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/how-you-can-help
Two articles in Forbes about the law:
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2009/01/16/..._0116olson.html
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2009/01/22/..._0122olson.html
The article I mentioned above on how this probably affects you, the taxpayer:
http://fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com/413898.html
Reform CPSIA:
http://reformcpsia.org/
This bothers me not just because, dude, that sucks for a lot of people, but because, in essence, it's also an attack on the handmade, home-based arts and crafts industry. I don't mean "arts and crafts" as in "pasta necklaces you made for your mom when you were a kid." I'm talking about things like sewing, needlecraft, bookbinding, beadwork, woodwork, cultural- or heritage-based arts. All sorts of things. Craftwork is in our history, but we don't support it. This is another push from small-scale to huge corporation (because they're the companies that can afford testing on the products they import or create) and it limits competition in the marketplace (because now what happens if a majority of the handmade children's market disappears?). On the surface it doesn't look like much, but it's a bit frightening, in all honesty.
Annnd I'm done here.
Comments
http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/bre...tion-prop-3347/
http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/bre...tion-prop-3347/
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Now hopefully they'll be smarter and far less reactionary in figuring things out this time around.