January 9, 2009 8:17 AM
Second hand children's clothes, toys, books facing ban
I was just doing a round up from emails I'd received on the issue of the potential ban on second hand children's clothes, toys and books by a law taking effect February 10, but just found that yesterday the Consumer Product Safety Commission clarified the interpretation:
This is not the final word on the story and we need to keep alert and keep pressing for better clarification Please read the information below and Samantha's comment which follows. This is a vital issue to every mother I know.
Hi Ladies!There is a Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act that comes into effect February 10th of this year. Designed to further protect kids from lead and phthalates, it will mandate ALL clothing sold for children ages 12 and under be tested and anything that is not tested or that fails will be prohibited from being sold. Let me put it another way: think THRIFT STORES - they cannot afford the very expensive testing and will have to stop selling childrens' clothes. For those of us with young families on a tight budget, this will effect us in a serious way!
Please PLEASE consider contacting your congressman about altering the bill. There are several ways to amend this bill that would further the screening (for new products, for example) and protect the frugal community. The biggest concern I have, of course, is that it is especially hard in this economy to face HAVING to buy all new kids' clothes! My budget can't handle that, how about yours?
Also, it might be a smart move to hit up your local second-hand store soon before they might have to start clearing their racks.
I would encourage you to spread the word as quickly as possible! As always, Use Your Voice :) Fellow bloggers, alert your readers. Below is a link that explains a litte more. If anyone has more info please let me know.
Hand-Me-Down Clothes in the Post Hand-Me-Down Era: Consumer Protectionism Gone Too Far?
In His Sacred Heart,
Kate at La Vita Bella
But the ramifications are even greater than clothes, as many fear that the law may be interpreted to include ANYTHING children use:
Barbara,Have you heard about the new law that goes into effect on Feb 10th, that will make it illegal to sell, resell, give away, barter, trade, etc ANYTHING that is intended for children, or looks as though it is intended for children?
Los Angeles Times: New safety rules for children's clothes have stores in a fit.
Could this truly happen? It would make it illegal for us (a larger family at going on 6 children) to buy our clothing at a thrift store, have them made by someone (unless they have the umpteen dollars to test their material, buttons, zippers, EVERYTHING), have anyone GIVE me anything they made for my kids, buy used books, many homeschooling book sellers will have to go out of business b/c they can't afford to have everything tested and keep their prices at a reasonable rate, no yard sales, garage sales, no Good will, no Salvation Army, no homeless shelters can use toys or clothing donated for children, no battered women's shelter's can use toys or clothing, bedding, etc donated for children, etc.
This will put literally EVERY home business out of business, and ruin our economy. How in the world do they expect to enforce this? How did we let this law slip by us, and why in the world is this not in the news!? This would also ruin the charity organizations as well. :(
Love,
Samantha at His Abiding Love
and from a TORCH newsletter forwarded to me by Jennifer:
Effective February 10th, in the United States, the sale of all children's books (books intended for children ages 12 and under) is to be PROHIBITED. Every single book printed prior to the ruling is affected, whether new or used. New books in production are required to include a "lead-free" certification and will be the only books that are legal to offer for sale.What does this mean to the homeschooling family?
Well, for one, curriculum fairs across the country will be cancelled as book vendors scramble to figure out how to comply with the new ruling. Complete book inventories will have to be destroyed -- the ruling even prohibits giving away the books! Local thrift stores will be hard hit -- most will likely have to close their doors -- yes, even Goodwill and Salvation Army.
Clothing, toys and books -- even CDs and DVDs are included in the ruling. Thrift stores will no longer be able to accept or process anything (including clothing) that would be intended for a child.
No more library sales. Libraries will not be permitted to give away or sell book donations. It is unsure yet, however, how the libraries' shelves themselves will be impacted (the ruling doesn't explicitly mention "loaning" books, just selling or giving them away). The key word, however, is "distribution" -- libraries may well be required to destroy books from their shelves.
(The ruling that originally passed was about toys, but the EPA has since made a statement that clothing, books and media are included in "children's toys".)
Just how serious is this new law?
Amazon.com has already notified all vendors of their need to comply. No book can be sold at the Amazon site that was printed prior to compliance. And the "compliance" must be coordinated at the manufacturing stage. At the time of this article there is no clause
to be able to grandfather-in older books or even rare out-of-print books. It can cost between $500 and $1500 to test a book for lead.I happen to own a children's bookstore specializing in living books from the 1950s and '60s. My punishment for selling a book after February 10th? Up to $100,000 and 5 years in jail. And yes, it is a felony charge. For selling a SINGLE book.
(Although I don't think the S.W.A.T. team scenario would become a reality overnight, at the same time I would be leery of blatantly violating Federal law.)
So what can you do to help save your local used bookstore that sells children's books? Or that homeschool curriculum business? Or your EBay business selling children's items?
ACT NOW before the quickly approaching deadlines:
1) Email or call the CPSIA - the office of the CPSC ombudsman at 888-531-9070. http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx
Comments on Component Parts Testing accepted through January 30, 2009. Or email: Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov
2) Contact your local representatives. For their contact information, just enter your zip code. http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/dbq/officials/
3) Make your voice heard by voting on this issue! The top 3 in each category will be presented to President-elect Obama. http://change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia
5) Spread the word! Forward this article. Send an email. Write about this on your blog. Tell others about this issue and encourage them to do the same.---
For the complete story, read the following links:
Consumer Product Safety Commission Summaries on Legislation Index
page for Children's Products Containing Lead; Lead Paint Rule and
other rulingshttp://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/legislation.html#summaries
Office of the General Counsel FAQ on retroactive inventory require-
ments -- The use of forward effective dates appears to force current
inventories to adhere to the ruling on February 10th, 2009http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/summaries/101briefhtml
Specific FAQ on their interpretation of books and other media to be
included in the testing of lead based productshttp://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/101faq.html
Effective Date: Lead content limit of 600 ppm becomes effective 180
days after enactment. An advisory opinion regarding the application
of the new lead limit to inventory existing at the effective date
can be found on our web site at
http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/advisory/317.pdfGetting the Lead out: There is no lead in children's books
http://news.bookweb.org/news/5695.htmlThere is no lead in Children's books: From a Pedtrician
http://health.yahoo
com/experts/childhealth/3955/is-there-lead-in-baby-books/
Posted in Current Affairs | Permalink
Comments
Yes, thank goodness for the clarification. However, any home business will still be affected. :( All the ladies/gentlemen that sell things online such as the ladies who make modest dresses or cloth diapers will have to shut their business down b/c it is too cost prohibitive to have every item tested. All book manufacturers(such as Rod and Staff) that do not have the money to have each item tested will still have to close their doors.
More clarification is needed. Congress passed this law without even *thinking* of the far reaching effects and how it would ruin the economy. :(
and saying 'not intended for children' on the tags won't cut it. The law specifically says that if the product even *looks* as though it *could* be for children under 12, it must be tested.
Love Samantha
Posted by: Samantha | January 9, 2009 10:21 AM
I just wanted to clarify Torch's point about libraries and children's books: My brother is a librarian with Gallaudet University and libraries are absolutely allowed to continue to distribute, lend, and sell children's books. There has been no notification sent out to libraries or any type of information distributed from Congress or among libraries to include libraries in this law. Since Gallaudet is a governmental institution and thereby funded by Congress, they would be informed immediately if they needed to cease lending or distributing children's material.
However, the law still affects small business owners and, more than likely, independent and handmade artisans.
Posted by: annie | January 9, 2009 1:58 PM
Barbara, I just emailed you about this...then saw this post. Sorry! I guess I got behind on your posts!
Posted by: Kristina | January 9, 2009 4:31 PM
Hi,
This was a shock for me to read your post, I had not heard of this before. What is the world coming to???? It seems that we are so trying to bubble wrap our children that we may be missing the point all together of what it means to be a child and have a childhood. Surely someone will see the light before an act such as this one is passed. I also wonder how this would ever be regulated. Will selling things for children go underground? Oh dear!
Posted by: Carmen of Baby Books Guide | January 9, 2009 11:29 PM
Barbara,
You've got a larger readership than most bloggers, so if you keep this at the forefront, you may help get more attention. I know you've got some important issues, too, but this one is strangely under people's radar. Please continue to help!
-Katie
Posted by: Katie | January 12, 2009 4:56 PM
It's not as dramatic as this. Check out:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/pending/cpsia.asp
Note from Barbara: Snopes is not a reliable source of information., It is a mom and pop operation, started as a hobby, which has clearly demonstrated a liberal bias. http://mommylife.net/archives/2007/06/snopes_has_it_w.html. You cannot trust them any more on political issues. They are defenders of the status quo.
Posted by: Amanda | January 14, 2009 10:36 AM
