Green Daily

This fall, Congress passed a bill regarding children's toys known as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The bill bans lead and phthalates in children's products, mandates third-party testing and certification, and requires labels with a date and batch number. All sound like good ideas.

However, while the bill aims to make toys safer for children, an unfortunate consequence of the act is that many handmade and natural toy manufacturers may leave the U.S. market. For example, Selecta Spielzeug, a German wooden toy maker, will end distribution of its toys in the U.S. effective December 31, 2008. Europlay, Selecta's distributor, says that meeting CPSIA's new standards would require an increase in the cost of Selecta's prices by at least 50 percent, pricing them out of the U.S. market.

The Handmade Toy Alliance is also objecting to the new law, saying that while most of the toys that caused the problems in 2007, and hence the legislation, came from China, independent toymakers here in the U.S. will now be driven out of business also, as the costs of complying with the act will be too great. They are asking people to write to their Congressperson asking for an exemption for U.S. and European handmade toys.

While it's a shame that reputable manufacturers will be forced to leave the U.S. market because of this bill, it's clear that this bill was needed and hopefully the benefits will far outweigh the losses. Another big problem with the act is the fact that the banned toys can still be sold as long as they were manufactured before February 10, 2009. Quite a loophole.

[Via WalletPop]