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BIGGEST SALE of the YEAR! CSPIA new laws...
December 12, 2008
Hello Green Mamas:)
I am DRASTICALLY, marking down my instock right now, until I sell out. I am unsure of what will happen with my business in the coming year:(
I am sure some of you have heard the news about the Consumer Product Safety Regulations on children's items.
This new law, is a sticky situation for anyone producing, sewing, hand knitting, aka...making products for children, and requires extensive testing for lead on a finished product.
This new law requires "3rd party" finished product testing, even if the fabric companies have certificates stating that there is not lead in their fabrics, the law still requires the finished garment to be tested for lead substrates.
This new testing will have to be performed on EVERY batch/color combo I make. Each test starts around $70.00 per garment. So, if I make 10 different color combos (with the same brand of fabrics) I would need 10 tests, costing me around $700.00 before I can sell the items. And this testing would need to be performed on every "batch" I make! This could get very pricey for a WAHM!
So, as of now...I am going to sell my items at low prices, until further notice. The customs will remain priced as they were, but instock will be drastically marked down.
Please, send letters to your congressman, and fight for us WAHMS!
Here is my letter to my Congressman:
You may copy it, and use it as you wish, to help in getting this new law revised for small businesses and crafters alike. I got this letter from "This End Up"...a poster created it, and wants us to use it, or rework it to our advantage. I did just that:)
Dear Congressman,
I'm writing to express my grave concern about the economic implications of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), particularly on home-based, one-woman craft manufacturers such as myself.
The CPSIA as currently worded is so broad and pervasive, without any exemptions for work-at-home craft type businesses, that it will put
myself and thousands of other women like me out of business. I am a stay at home mom to three children. I own a small home business sewing eco-friendly cloth diapers and custom children's clothing. The business helps to financially support my family while allowing me to stay home with my children. Additionally, I am contributing to making life more "green" for our children and their future.
According to the CPSIA, "the new legislation imposes an additional third-party testing requirement for all consumer products primarily intended for children twelve years of age or younger" (Section 102, part B).
With this legislation, all work-at-home mothers who manufacture any product for children will have to send every different product we make to a third party lab and pay for independent testing (fees range from $70.00 per item on up). And, without the required certificate our products "cannot be sold or distributed in commerce in the United
States."
Most of the products I offer are one-of-a-kind, custom made, or a small batch of
less than ten. The current wording of the legislation requires that I would have to pay for testing for every product type and color even if it was a unique item or very small batch. Requiring this level of independent testing is unequivocally cost-prohibitive for a micro-business such as mine and would most certainly put me out of business.
There are many thousands of craft business owners just like me who will be in the same boat. Think of the craft sellers on Ebay and Etsy and at flea markets and craft fairs around the country! There is a vast amount of crafters out there, that make one of a kind items for the public, and for children under 12 years of age. Most of these items (clothing items, hand knitted blankets, custom made quilts, etc.) are of no threat, and contain no traces of lead. The concern is in the factories that produce children's items, not in the homes of children, where mothers are sewing on a home sewing machine!
There is no exemption for businesses under a certain size, businesses operated out of the home, or for the products I make: cloth diapers and custom, one-of-a-kind clothing. Unless such an exemption is made, I will have to close my business and look for outside employment, while putting my children into daycare, to be raised by someone other than their mother.
Small crafting, and sewing businesses such as mine have no high-powered lobbyists acting
on our behalf. But, we are many...and we should not be overlooked.
Please, do whatever you can to revise the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to make exemptions for work-at-home small craft
manufacturers. As a mother I understand the need to have greater oversight of children's products for safety purposes and I applaud the Congress' efforts. However, as it stands this legislation is much too broad, requiring
testing and certification not only of the raw materials but also of the finished products in every style and color. This will cause much harm to our already, hurting economy by shutting down thousands of home-based crafters who simply cannot afford the testing requirements set forth.
If you truly support the middle class and small business in America, please, make it a priority to revise the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to make exemptions for home-based craft manufacturers!
For reference, http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/legislation.html
Thank you very much for considering this very important issue.
Sincerely,
Colleen Moriarty
www.prestonspants.com
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