A Law was passed to in effect ban the sale of Children's books! In the attempt to rid the world of Lead poisoning the people we trust to run our country did not really look at the consequences very closely that come with this law.
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.
If you break the law there is a $100,000 fine and possible jail time.
Update: Jan 8th the CPSC clarified that the Safety Law for Lead was for Manufacturers, importers amd Retailers. They say quote "The new safety law does not require resellers to test children's products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children's products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.While CPSC expects every company to comply fully with the new laws resellers should pay special attention to certain product categories. Among these are recalled children's products, particularly cribs and play yards; children's products that may contain lead, such as children's jewelry and painted wooden or metal toys; flimsily made toys that are easily breakable into small parts; toys that lack the required age warnings; and dolls and stuffed toys that have buttons, eyes, noses or other small parts that are not securely fastened and could present a choking hazard for young children." check out the rest here, at the cpsc.gov site.
It also means hand crafted toys and small shops like mine on Etsy can't sell toys or clothing either because we don't have the toys certified to be "lead free". Really lame huh.
*Note the cpsc claims it will not send out the Toy police, but unless the law is amended the opportunity for lawsuits by those who choose to excersize the full exstent of the law are huge. There in lies the problem in my opinion. I sew a cute stuffed toy and some one buys it and then uses the law to the full exstent where am I now? Broke and in jail? It seems extreme
... but we all know there are people out there who don't care about the other person involved just ect....
It seams crazy that this is a law doesn't it. Reminds me of the book Fahrenheit 451.
This sadly means no more used book sales for children. No more on Ebay they have a notice up.
This means small bookstores are in trouble unless they can somehow prove their books are lead free.
Quick go to goodwill or your favorite used book place and buy all the kids books you can before they are destroyed. I am pretty sure secondhand shops won't want to break the law and would rather throw out all their books than be fined.
There are lots of places to read all about this crazy and stupid law.
We can do something and get our voice heard
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: Sec102ComponentPart sTesting@ cpsc.gov
2) Contact your local representatives. For their contact informa-
tion, just enter your zip code.
http://capwiz. com/americanappa rel/dbq/official s/
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
4) Sign the petition.
http://ipetitions. com/petition/ economicimpactso fCPSIA/index. html
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.
Most of this information I have posted has been circulating in various posts and emails.
Please don't just read and move on do something.
4 comments:
"Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards."
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html
Thank you for your comment.
Even with clarification from the CPSC, there is the window of opportunity to take the law to the extreme if the law is not amended to that effect.
There in lies my concern.
This is very intersting. Will you please post it on the friends blog?
What? Thats crazy!
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