Many of us were excited to see the federal government finally do something about lead in toys.  What was not expected was that the legislation that was passed would threaten the very existence of small children's products companies doing really cool things.  I am always amazed when I see the expansion of the natural children's products (toys, clothing etc) with new organic clothing companies, fairly traded toys, wooden toys from small manufacturers, etc.  It is great to be a part of this market as an importer of specialty and natural toys....but my company is not the subject of this blog.  The topic is the effect the new legislation is having on our entire marketplace.

When the lead scandal broke out, were you relieved to have alternatives?  Did you look for products made in USA, or in Europe?  I bet most of the products you bought were made by small US manufacturers, or imported by a small importer.

The new legislation, and the way it is being interpreted by the CPSC, has grave consequences for the small guys.  It will require us to have each and every different item tested by a 3rd party testing lab.  You may say..."so what! I want my toys tested."  Well, testing is great, but it is all in how it is done.  You can test your inputs (cloth, wood, paint, etc) and pay for that testing and confident in your output...then make hundreds or thousands of different products or styles.  Or, you can (as the law will require) test each and every one of those different styles or products (at a cost of hundreds, or thousands of dollars per test).  So, in a case like ours, we specialize in bringing a large range of specialty natural toys to the market.  If we have to test all 500 styles (many of which are already certified organic or oko-tex, and also tested in Europe) rather than have the manufacturer certify the inputs, it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.  So we have to bring in only the top 20 items.  Sorry, no more selection---everyone gets the same.

What does this mean for fair trade?  Well, only the biggest survive.  You will not see boutique importers able to do what they have been doing. 

There are other issues that I won't go into now, such as the complexity of the law, etc.  If you love World of Good, if you love organic children's products, and that little wooden train made by a woodworker in Maine....learn about the Children's Products Safety Inititive Act...and act now to urge the CPSC and lawmakers to make provisions for small companies that are niche players.  It doesn't mean the standard should be lower...it just means the way of certifying should be pragmatic. 

For more information see:

www.handmadetoyalliance.org
www.cpsia-central.ning.com (join our community)
www.nationalbankruptcyday.com
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

Please act today by learning, then contacting your Representative of Congress & the CPSC.