[ExI] they're everywhere

[Damien Broderick]

<http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia>

In 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to 
China and other developing countries violated the public's trust. 
They were selling toys containing dangerously high lead content, 
unsafe small parts, and chemicals that made kids sick.

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 
children's products, mandates third party testing and certification, 
and requires manufacturers of all goods for children under the age of 
12, to permanently label each item with a date and batch number.

All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational 
companies to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of 
units of each item have very little incremental cost to pay for 
testing and updating their systems to include batch labels. Small 
businesses however, will likely be driven out of business by the 
costs of mandatory testing, to the tune of as much as $4,000 or more 
per item. And the few larger manufacturers 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.

Anyone who produces or sells any of the following new or used items 
will be required to comply with the law: toys, books, clothing, art, 
educational supplies, materials for the learning disabled, bicycles, 
and more. Any uncertified item intended for children under the age of 
12 will be considered contraband after February 10, 2009. It will be 
illegal to sell or give these items away to charities, and the 
government will require their destruction or permanent disposal, 
resulting in millions of tons of unnecessary waste, and placing an 
enormous strain on our landfills.

There is a clear disconnect between the sweeping nature of this law, 
and the narrow range of products that were problematic in 2007. The 
CPSIA applies standards that were put in place in reaction to the 
sale of toys contaminated with lead paint and toxic plastics. Rather 
than focus on these materials, this law places a guilty until proven 
innocent mentality on all children's product producers by imposing 
mandatory testing and certification, and in the process will kill an 
entire industry.