The End of Handmade Toys?
2007 was the year of endless recalls by major manufacturers such as Mattel of toy lines they had outsourced to China. The recalls included toys with dangerously high lead content, toys with unsafe small part, toys with improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick.
After much consumer outrage, Congress and the President acted and passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys (was lead ok before?), mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys, and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.
Now here is the problem, although compliance is easy for the large, multinational toy manufacturers who steered the crisis in the first place, there are numerous small American, Canadian, and European toymakers, who cannot afford the cost of compliance. Many of these family-owned businesses will need to fold up shop if the CPSIA stays as is. We have already heard from two vendors that they will be closing up shop as a result of this law and some European and Canadian toy companies are planning on pulling out of the US market as a result of this law.
Needless to say, these handcrafted toys have not been the problem but it looks they will be paying the price for the solution. The toy companies that have kept the public’s trust will disappear unless the law is modified. And finding alternatives to mass-marketed toys will become an even greater challenge than it already is.
But it is not too late and yes, you can help! Please write to your US Representative, Senator, and President-Elect Obama about this issue - don’t delay, do it today! A sample letter as well as more information on this issue may be found at http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/
