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Kids' toys, books, fall under stringent new regs Date published: 1/26/2009
UNINTENDED consequences." The CPSIA started out as a good idea--such a no-brainer, in fact, that it passed in the House of Representatives 424-1 (Ron Paul was the holdout) and overwhelmingly in the Senate. No one wonders if anyone on Capitol Hill actually read the bill. Remember the children's toys from China found to be full of lead in 2007? The CPSIA was a reaction to that, expanding the Consumer Product Safety Commission's budget and establishing new rules for manufacturers and sellers of children's products. These rules reduce the amount of allowable lead, eliminate phthalates (a plastic softening chemical), and require products to be tested for lead by a third party. That's fine, if you're Fisher-Price bringing shiploads of toys in from China, but the rules also apply to cottage-industry toymakers, book publishers and sellers, thrift stores, and other unlikely violators. That's why some groups are calling Feb. 10 "National Bankruptcy Day." The cost of implementing the CPSIA for many stands to drive them out of business. Children's book manufacturers are particularly at risk. "This is a potential calamity like nothing I've ever seen," Chip Gibson, president and publisher of Random House Children's Books, told Publisher's Weekly. He said kids' books could soon be off the shelves in schools, libraries, and stores. This, despite the fact that there's been only a dozen book-related safety concerns in 20 years, and only one that involved lead--in a spiral binding. Yet, under CPSIA, all products for children must be tested by a third- party lab. What about items now in thrift stores? "They'll all have to go to the landfill," said Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops. If we want to be charitable, we can excuse Congress. After all, 2008 was an election year: Who wants to be caught voting against identifying lead in kids' toys? Still, the "unintended consequences" of the new law will have serious repercussions in an economy that's already hard-pressed. For starters, Congress needs to change the law to exempt books and most articles of clothing, which are highly unlikely to contain lead or phthalates. Then, small toy and clothing manufacturers, private sellers, and thrift stores need to get a pass. Protecting our kids is a good thing. "National Bankruptcy Day" is not.
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