CPSIA – CPSC Sets Its Sights On the Real Menace to Society . . . Buttons

In yesterday’s USA Today article entitled “Lead testing can be costly for mom and pop toy shops“, Scott Wolfson, Director of Public Affairs at the CPSC, cited the “positive effects” of the CPSIA on the market. What were those “positive effects” that Wolfson bragged about to the national media? “[Wolfson] notes global suppliers are choosing lead-free buttons for adult and children’s clothing, which is safer for everyone and helps shift the burden from small businesses to suppliers up the line. He says Tenenbaum is trying ‘to find the right balance between compliance and not putting companies out of business.’”

Let’s be clear here, Wolfson is talking about making everyone “safer” by eliminating lead-in-substrate in buttons. He is NOT talking about lead-in-paint. Lead-in-paint has been illegal for decades, and a small number of recalls have occurred for lead-in-paint violations relating to buttons. [No injuries were ever reported, of course, but don't get me started.] Buttons have been recalled for coming loose and violating the small parts rules. This is a REAL hazard to small children. Kids can actually choke on a button and be injured. Wolfson is NOT talking about this issue. He is focusing on other “positive effects” from the law.

Wolfson also took pains to note that the buttons were being removed from adult clothing, too. Did you realize how much danger you were in before the CPSC was able to induce these “positive effects”? I really appreciate Wolfson bringing this to my attention. Thank heavens for our federal protectors!

How many recalls have occurred in the United States for lead-in-substrate in buttons – EVER? According to the CPSC website, ZERO. According to a Google search this morning, I believe this kind of recall has NEVER occurred ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. And the removal of lead-in-substrate is a positive effect of the law? Is Wolfson responsible to explain this puzzling remark?

So after two years of continuous arguing and the devotion of many tens of thousands of man-hours of work to implement the noxious CPSIA by the federal government and industry alike , the CPSC holds up as its great achievement – buttons. Whew, it’s safe to walk the streets of America again!

Thank you CPSC for seeking the right balance between compliance and NOT putting companies out of business. Yeah, I get it.

Unfortunately, by highlighting something as asinine as buttons as a possible lead hazard, the CPSC fuels a long-simmering public hysteria over latent chemical hazards. No one was previously aware that buttons could kill you from their bound=in lead content, but apparently our federal government is quite concerned about button lead content. Isn’t that what Wolfson said? After all, why would he mention it to USA Today if it wasn’t a problem at all? This kind of remark helps persuade the public that dangers lurk where they can’t see them. Lead must be terrible, right, if the CPSC is so hysterical about it? The conclusion is inescapable.

And let’s not forget the McDonald’s Shrek glasses. Cadmium must also be a terrible problem or else why would our trusted federal government urge recall of the drinking glasses out of “an abundance of caution”? Which are we to believe – the CPSC’s actions in demanding the recall for undisclosed trace levels of cadmium in the enamel on the OUTSIDE of the glasses, or Wolfson’s own written reassurance that the glasses aren’t toxic? And of course, there is the Congressional “inquiry” by Waxman and Stupak as further evidence of the “justifiable” health concern. As the relentless stream of breathless and panicked media stories confirm, the public believes that the recall was justified and therefore that cadmium is a real concern, a silent “killer”. The fact that there has never been a single reported cadmium injury from a consumer product in this country’s history is never discussed.

This kind of reinforcement leads to paranoia about many safe products – and makes doing business in the children’s market in this country exceptionally difficult and unpleasant now. No one trusts us anymore and the only thing we did wrong was elect the wrong people to Congress.

The message that we business people can’t be trusted is clogging the airwaves almost daily. The weekly corporate bashings by Congress and the White House paints a clear picture to the American public. You need only consider the treatment of BP, Toyota, Wellpoint, Massey-Ferguson, GM, Chrysler, evil bankers . . . the list is long. We’re all bad, right? That’s the theme these days.

CPSC leadership also reinforces the notion that corporations must be closely supervised by the federal government. Corporations will cut corners and take chances with your children’s health but for the crusading efforts of this pioneering and courageous safety agency. Remember Tenenbaum’s theme: the CPSC is not a “teething tiger” anymore. With this approach at the CPSC, small wonder then that these are among the USA Today comments:

“Yeah…Tests can be costly, but on the other hand death seems to be pretty costly also. But I guess the determining factor will always be money. Save 10 cents, 10 dollars, 100 dollars at the cost of someone else.“

“Well if they cannot test the products they make to insure that our children are safe. Then its time to start making other items. The simple fact is that the Chinese and our bought and paid for congressmen/congress women have allowed this to happen. My opinion ban all products from China since it is evident that they do not care for the health of our citizens.“

“WE can never ever trust the Chinese. They are the worst people! Why do we do any business with them is beyond me.“

“This is just more gov regulation that the GOP says get’s in the way of the Free Market. Let the Free Market get the lead out on it’s own. Too bad there’s no profits in ‘getting the lead out’. It’s cheaper to use lead as a filler, and hire lobbyists to pay-off congress. We’ve got it all dialed-in in America!“

Thanks for all the help, CPSC. You sure are helping our market. Your efforts will only succeed in driving the good people out of this market, along with their good products, their innovations, their productivity gains and their jobs. And who will be around to help educate your kids and grandkids? Let’s not think about that one. No, no, ignore me for a few more years. This can go on indefinitely. We’ll just take it. We love it. Go ahead.

It’s time for Nero to share the stage with the Democrats. Go on, fiddle while Rome burns.

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CPSIA – CPSC Sets Its Sights On the Real Menace to Society . . . Buttons

CPSIA – New York Times Highlights Big Government at CPSC

The New York Times today highlighted the explosion in regulations under President Obama, particularly noting the CPSC and the controversy over the CPSIA. Here’s what Inez Tenenbaum had to say about our problems:

“‘I don’t want to put anyone out of business,’ said Inez Tenenbaum, chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who was appointed by Mr. Obama. ‘But if anything will help the marketplace, it is to make sure that people have confidence in the products that they buy.’” [Emphasis added]

Let’s be clear about something – this is pure opinion. It may sound like fact, but there’s nothing factual about that self-justifying remark. I am not aware of ANY data to support this point of view. I believe the tenor of Ms. Tenenbaum’s remark is that she knows what’s best for our markets, namely a lot more regulation. I thought her job was to make people safe . . . . She apparently contends that the market for children’s products was sinking under the weight of declining consumer confidence and the CPSIA was some sort of stimulus bill intended to save our market with lots of confidence-restoring regulations.

That is a pretty rosy reconstruction of the CPSIA, don’t you think? I love a good work of fiction!

I have a message for our overlords in Washington – thanks for all your help but frankly, I would prefer to run my business without your assistance. We know our customers, our suppliers, our products and most definitely, our markets – and you do NOT. You say our market needs a boost of consumer confidence. I say that if it does, we’ll take care of it ourselves. You have no right to enter our market and tell us how to run our businesses more successfully. That’s the ultimate in regulatory arrogance and is completely contrary to the capitalist system prevailing in this country. We are the efficient capital allocators, not YOU.

This is all Washington “spin”. The noxious regulations choking our businesses are indefensible for their safety impact so now our regulators are telling us the new rules have been designed to be GOOD for our markets. Pass me a barf bag.

I would like to close by quoting the May 12 HTA letter on the Waxman Amendment:

“Finally, we hope to settle any confusion regarding our intent in endorsing the CPSEA. We endorsed it as our only available alternative. We truly believe that many of our members will be forced out of business after February 10, 2011 without meaningful, clear reform provided by your committee.“

Thanks, Congress and CPSC, for boosting our markets so well with all your new regulations. It’s a brave new world for all of us. Yippee.

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CPSIA – New York Times Highlights Big Government at CPSC

CPSIA – More Data on Devastation of Resale Industry

Can any sensible person continue to deny the pain inflicted on resale and consignment shops by the CPSIA? The issues have been well-documented for almost two years now. Not only were these small businesses needlessly harmed by this law and forced out of the children’s market, but the neediest American families dependent on these outlets were left in the lurch, too. Congressional Democrats left them there with the justification that it was for their own good. Spoken like someone with warm clothing on.

NorthJersey.com published an interesting piece on the plight of these retail outlets yesterday entitled “Some Thrift Shops Hurt by Lead-free Law“. It starts out:

“Janis Nelson, owner of Growing Kids consignment shop in Riverdale, points to a heavy book of lead-paint recalls as explanation for the store’s decision to stop selling second-hand children’s toys . . . . she could not risk a $25,000 fine, which is possible under the law if a single toy with lead were to slip past the heavy book of recalls.”

And the shops aren’t the only losers. The article continues:

“Besides hurting the stores financially, [store owner Lorraine] DeHart said that the law can also hurt consumers, who may be turning to thrift shops because they cannot afford department store prices. ‘People can’t afford to buy it new,’ she said. They might turn to garage sales, she said, where there tends to be less scrutiny over products sold. Yet even garage sales are not exempt from the new law. ‘If you’re going to have a garage sale, be careful what gets sold because if someone gets hurt they can sue you,‘ said Kathleen Reilly, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.” [Emphasis added]

What a calming effect the CPSC has on this market! I can’t wait to see what the CPSC’s Small Business Ombudsman does to earn his wages. Perhaps he will roam the land assuring small businesses that by complying with the thousands of pages of rules under the CPSIA, they can avoid getting sued, fined or jailed.

Crazy? Remember the words of Inez Tenenbaum: “‘CPSC’s new authority to seek higher civil penalties does not mean we will ignore serious violations by small businesses,’ said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. ‘We will continue to take enforcement action against any business, large or small, that violates the Commission’s product safety laws and regulations.’”

And the market reality for the resale industry today? Ask the National Association of Resale & Thrift Stores: “NARTS members have reported significant increases in both sales and incoming inventory, according to NARTS, but those that sold children’s products did not fare as well with 44.2 percent experiencing a decrease in sales due to the challenges of complying with the consumer act of 2008.”

It’s time for Congress to stop sucking its thumb and do something for the neediest members of our society. Of course, some modest risk will be required to fix the mess they made in 2008. Resale shops deserve a bright line rule to encourage them back into the business of selling used children’s products. The law’s focus should be on recalled items only. The rest of the used children’s product category should be saleable without risk of liability unless the store has actual knowledge of a hazard. The strictures of the CPSIA will slowly and effectively clear out old inventory over time.

The resale industry has NO HISTORY of selling dangerous products or harming children. The “risk” of restoring the market sanity that prevailed before the lead mania of 2007/8 is trivial but the harm inflicted by the CPSIA fix is real and profound.

It’s time to ‘fess up and fix the law, guys!

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CPSIA – More Data on Devastation of Resale Industry

CPSIA – CPSIA Casualty of the Week for November 2

The Alliance for Children’s Product Safety’s “CPSIA Casualty of the Week” highlights how the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) is disrupting the U.S. marketplace in order to draw attention to the problems faced by small businesses, public institutions, consumers and others trying to comply with senseless and often contradictory provisions of the law. These provisions do nothing to improve product safety, but are driving small businesses out of the market.

Congress and the CPSC need to address the problems with CPSIA implementation to help small businesses by restoring “common sense” to our nation’s product safety laws.

CPSIA Casualty of the Week for November 2:

The Final Adventure of Whimsical Walney:
CPSIA Claims another Home Crafter

Dana Lardner started Whimsical Walney in 2004 to showcase handmade products with the theme “let children play.” She sold items such as kids’ fabric books, foreign language-focused clothing, and outdoor blankets on her website. Dana always focused on product designs that promoted a child’s imagination. In April 2009, almost a year to the day that she reintroduced Whimsical Walney with new branding and a new website, Dana shut down her business because of CPSIA.

“I decided to close my business because I had planned to introduce a new line of products. I was going to sell off existing inventory and then discontinue several of my old products to focus my business and build my brand. Because all my products would be defined as “children’s products” under the CPSIA, I would be required to test everything for lead and some for phthalates. It would have been cost prohibitive not only to test products that I don’t intend to continue selling, but also to test yet-to-be-released products whose acceptance in the market is unknown. I know that there was a stay of the testing requirement, but the writing was on the wall for businesses like mine. From the tracking label requirements to the prohibitive penalties, I just could not take the risk of staying in the children’s product market.”

Dana has shifted her business to focus on products specifically designed for adult consumers such as handmade housewares and accessories. Unfortunately for kids, Whimsical Walney is yet another product line and small business that has left the children’s product market – not because any of the products were unsafe, contained dangerous levels of lead, or could anyway harm a child, but because of the inability to concurrently market and build her business while also managing the undue overhead of the irrational provisions of CPSIA.

Dana started a CPSIA blog at her website: www.WhimsicalWalney.com.

Do not accept the status quo! Tell Congress and the CPSC to restore “common sense” to our nation’s product safety laws. Click here for instructions on how to contact the CPSC and your representatives in Congress.

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CPSIA – CPSIA Casualty of the Week for November 2

CPSIA – CPSC Recalls 40 Inflatable Bats for Phthalates

I know I am crazy, over the edge, worrying about a CPSC so hellbent on enforcing the awful CPSIA that it will chill the market and kill products and companies that are essential to those markets. I know I have a reputation . . . .

Well, consider this recall today: a California company agreed to a recall of 130 pieces of several toys, including an inflatable bat stenciled with “Home Run” on it. The bat was offensive because it violated the phthalates standard. A recall of 130 pieces spread over several toys, means that they must be recalling less than 130 pieces of the inflatable bat. So I called the company (Daiso Japan) and asked them exactly how many bats were involved – the answer? Forty. Feeling safer already?

This is a rather strict standard . . . and completely disproportionate to any conceivable risk. Phthalates do not “ooze” from toys – they must be mouthed and chewed. The CPSC knows this – their own CHAP examined this question and their own scientists participated in “chew tests”. So, in choosing to expend resources on a recall of 40 pieces of an inflatable bat that is clearly not intended or likely to be mouthed, the CPSC is imposing a strict liability standard with no apparent threshhold for recalls – one unit is enough to justify this public humiliation.

This is asinine, of course. How do you expect the business community to react to this development? Well, for one thing, they will overreact. I anticipate that our customers will demand that we prove that everything we make is phthalate-free, toy or not. This means expensive tests to prove that we have not used an additive not found in nature. [It's an ADDITIVE - it will only be there if added.] The application of this rule by the marketplace to every product, whether or not subject to the ban, means that more of our items will lose marketshare simply because we cannot afford to test them to prove we were compliant. The cull of items will accelerate.

This turn in the market will dramatically increase our costs. At this point, we have seen cost increases in the range of 12-40%. Perhaps those surcharges will fall over time, but right now, that’s a pretty hefty chunk of lost profits. The impact will be lower revenues as products are dropped and volumes decline in the face of forced price increases. Price increases in a weak market is not a winning strategy.

Another factor will be fear. Companies will look at this development, connect the dots with the penalty-happy posture of this new CPSC, and realize that any misstep is subject to dramatic punishment. They will pull into their shell – or leave the market. This is called a “chilling effect”.

And what will be achieved? Recalls of less than 130 pieces is pointless from a safety standpoint. The presence of phthalates in a toy is not tantamount to devastating injury, even if banned. The CPSC used to tout its “enforcement discretion” but apparently has no intention of using it here. Even so, the use of phthalates in a baseball bat is hard to link to injury under any rational standards – baseball bats are not teethers. Ergo, there are no rational standards. “Common sense” at the CPSC is a sound bite only and a pathetic figment of the marketers’ imagination.

Enjoy! You can thank the Congressional Democrats for all the good this is bringing to your life.

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CPSIA – CPSC Recalls 40 Inflatable Bats for Phthalates

CPSIA – Consumer Group LIES

The propaganda machine of the consumer groups grinds on, even as the screams of dying businesses echo in the media and in the blogosphere. In a recent email to a Handmade Toy Alliance member, a WashPIRG Consumer Advocate (Seattle, Washington) made the following remarks: “Thank you for your e-mail! While my primary concern is keeping toxics substances out of toys and other consumer products, I share your concern about how this new law impacts the viability of small businesses. As with most laws written by Congress, the CPSIA allows the agency enforcing new regulations to flesh out how the law will be implemented. In this case, the Consumer Product Safety Commission can, and indeed has, written reasonable exemptions for certain products. Clothes, wood products, and books have been exempted and non-toxic pre-approved dyes for children’s products will be on the market soon, which should preempt the need for testing. To be blunt, I’m not impressed with some of the statements made by the Handmade Toy Alliance over the past year. Just as an example, they’ve grossly overestimated the average cost of toy testing on several occasions. The $300 – $4,000 fee per toy figure is, quite frankly, exaggerated. The average cost per toy test is often as low as $75. Moreover, toy manufacturers won’t be required to purchase testing guns, but can instead contract out to existing testing services who, in most cases, charge much lower rates than those quoted by the Alliance.” I see. Again, we are being victimized by business prognosticating by people who have never worked for a business and have never made a product. Let’s count the lies and misinformation: a. “. . . the CPSIA allows the agency enforcing new regulations to flesh out how the law will be implemented. In this case, the Consumer Product Safety Commission can, and indeed has, written reasonable exemptions for certain products.” This baloney has been hashed over endlessly in this space and is a well-documented lie. Chairman Tenenbaum and Commissioners Nord and Moore, among others, have repeatedly bemoaned their utter lack of flexibility in making decisions under the CPSIA. The absurd rules of the CPSIA has forced the CPSC to confirm the illegality of ATVs, bicycles, ballpoint pens and rhinestones and has caused companies selling rocks and fossils to test them for sharp point and the presence of lead. The fact that they have exempted cotton cloth from lead testing is not the same as liberating the apparel industry, nor does it exempt those products from the burdensome tracking labels requirement or any of the other extreme provisions of this law. b. “Clothes, wood products, and books have been exempted and non-toxic pre-approved dyes for children’s products will be on the market soon, which should preempt the need for testing.” As previously noted , the phthalates testing standard requires testing on anything that “conceivably” could have phthalates in them, including natural wood and cloth, among other things. In addition, clothing will only avoid testing for lead if they have NO components which are subject to testing. This means no appliques, grommets, buttons and so on. The only wood products that will avoid lead testing are products made of pure, untreated natural wood. Not exactly a truck-sized hole to drive through. Finally, the component testing rule, which is more than a year in preparation, is unlikely to solve all the testing problems in the market. The ones that will be solved are easy ones, like button testing. In any event, I have never been convinced that a jumbled mass of product testing reports will satisfy the market in a post-CPSIA environment. You would be BLOWN AWAY by the testing and certification requests we get on a daily basis. The testing mania is a boat that left the harbor on August 14, 2008, and unless Congress gets this back under control, it seems utterly hopeless to me. c. THE BIG LIE : “To be blunt, I’m not impressed with some of the statements made by the Handmade Toy Alliance over the past year. Just as an example, they’ve grossly overestimated the average cost of toy testing on several occasions. The $300 – $4,000 fee per toy figure is, quite frankly, exaggerated. The average cost per toy test is often as low as $75. Moreover, toy manufacturers won’t be required to purchase testing guns, but can instead contract out to existing testing services who, in most cases, charge much lower rates than those quoted by the Alliance.” Okay, Mr. PIRG, here are a few representative testing reports . Please show me the test report that costs $75. This lie is laughably ridiculous. We have been aggressively testing our products for 20 years and to my knowledge, have NEVER paid $75 for a safety test. Perhaps one line on an invoice is $75, but clearly that won’t do it. Unfortunately, the PIRGs of the world have a very gullible Congress in the palm of their hand. Congress seems quite susceptible to the Big Lie. As long as Congress will accept nonsense as fact, and as long as the CPSC continues to willingly implement the toxic CPSIA as though nothing were wrong, we are doomed. It won’t matter if the PIRGs are telling the Big Lie. We won’t be here to argue about it anymore.

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CPSIA – Consumer Group LIES