Saturday, January 10, 2009

Who Is Affected ???

Others that could be affected:

Fundraisers - school craft fairs, booster clubs, non-profit 'silent auctions' & many more

Hospital Auxiliary Gift Shops - All the ones in our area have handmade items for gifts for Moms, Dads & Babies in the maternity wards

Senior Citizen Centers Gift Shops -- many communities have Sr. Citizen gift shops, we have at least one here in Reno

Church rummage & craft sales -- there are several churches in the greater Reno area who have rummage sales that also have crafts made by either the children or the adults as part of a fund raising effort for things like the Heifer Project, Feed The Children, etc.

What about the SCA and RenFaires that are all over the country?? Other organizations where folks craft items in the manner of their time period?

SOOOOO many organizations are covered under this ridiculous blanket of 'the law' as it is written right now.

Marge in Reno

Countdown to CSPIA New Law

It's amazing to me how many hand crafters are unaware of the new law that takes effect on February 10, 2009. Or they tell me ... "It doesn't affect me, I don't use any materials that have lead or phthalates." Wanna bet???

The government 'goofed up' on this law they formulated in August 2008 and it will have a negative impact on many hand crafters around the world, not just in the U.S. This new law is ambiguous at best and so very confusing to not only the crafters but also to the buying public. Certain children’s products manufactured on or after February 10, 2009 cannot be sold if they contain more that 0.1% of certain specific phthalates or if they fail to meet new mandatory standards for toys. Granted, we ALL want safer products for our children & grand-children. This law stems from the problems with lead paint on toys imported from China. They threw the blanket over all items that could be for children under the age of 12. Hmmmm. NOT just lead and plastics.

There has been some progress. But the clarification of who can sell what is still pretty fuzzy. Do you spin, dye or otherwise manipulate fibers for sale?? Better be careful. Right from the CPSC pages in their library: "The staff recommends that these findings only apply to a material that is untreated and unadulterated by the addition of materials or chemicals including pigments, dyes, coats, finishes or any other substance, and has not undergone any processing that could result in lead content that exceeds the CPSIA lead limits"

This is ONLY a recommendation. See the links below, especially the one for Call For Comments. Get your two cents in!!

Here are some links ...
Buy Handmade.org
CPSC
Call For Comments on CPSC Deadline Jan. 30, 2009
Bloomberg - Panel on Exemptions
Etsy Article on Resources for Action
Discussion Threads for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)

If you're not sure how your Representative or Senator voted on this bill, I was able to ferret out the following Legislative Info on WHO voted for the H.R. 4040 Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act:

Senate
House