What is the CPSIA? » What people are saying

I ship products from Canada, how am I affected by CPSIA?

wackyhermit — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:17:33 +0000

All products imported into the United States have to meet CPSIA standards, regardless of their country of origin. If you ship products from Canada directly to consumers in the United States, you will have to make sure you have complied with CPSIA.

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Can I export my products to other countries and just not sell them in the U.S.?

wackyhermit — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:03:23 +0000

Products exported from the U.S. all have to comply with CPSIA before they will be allowed out of the country. Some shippers are now requiring certificates of compliance, also known as general conformity certificates (GCCs), before accepting commercial shipments.

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I heard that state AGs have power to enforce the law. What does that mean?

wackyhermit — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:32:07 +0000

Each state has an Attorney General who is responsible for prosecuting crimes in their state. Prior to CPSIA, only the federal government could prosecute someone who violated product safety standards. Under CPSIA, this changes. All state Attorneys General now have the power to take manufacturers to court for violating CPSIA.

What makes this problematic is that the state AGs are not bound by any decisions of CPSC. So if, for example, CPSC decides that they are not going to enforce CPSIA against bicycles until 2011, this does not stop the 51 state AGs (Washington DC has one too) from going after a company that makes bicycles. Many state AGs are busy prosecuting violent crimes and will abide by whatever decisions CPSC makes, but some state AGs have made clear that they intend to fully enforce CPSIA regardless of CPSC’s enforcement stays. This makes it difficult for businesses to operate across state lines, and makes CPSC’s stays of enforcement practically useless.

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Why shouldn’t I support CPSIA?

wackyhermit — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:01:15 +0000

Suppose Congress was worried about preventing rape, so they passed a law saying that every man in the country had to register as a sex offender or be locked up in prison if he refuses. You would probably say that this was unfair, that most men aren’t rapists, and that it was cruel to lock someone up in prison for not committing a crime. You might also say that this would not prevent any rapes, since women on the lookout for potential rapists wouldn’t be able to tell which of the newly registered men was really a sex offender. If you are a woman, would you feel safer knowing that all men had registered as sex offenders, or would you become suspicious of everyone? If you are a man, would you want to register because you feel that any action should be taken that might possibly stand even a tiny chance of preventing a horrible crime?

This is how businesses feel about CPSIA. Most of the businesses affected have done nothing wrong; they have never broken any laws or sold any unsafe products and have even taken many precautions to make sure their products are safe, long before CPSIA became law. But they are faced with either extinction or extremely high costs from testing. The fact that all manufacturers have to do the testing makes consumers suspicious that all products have poisonous amounts of lead in them, which makes them feel less safe. And the real kicker is that all this effort is entirely wasted. CPSIA will not prevent most cases of lead poisoning, which are caused by lead in old house paint and in contaminated soil– items that are not covered by CPSIA. It is simply not true that we should go to any lengths at all, including doing demonstrable harm to children, to potentially protect one single child from the slightest chance of lead poisoning. It is not worth destroying the industry that clothes, amuses, and educates all our children so that one child can “safely” eat 10,000 rubber duckies without poisoning himself with lead.

Some manufacturers will still choose to break the new law by selling safe but untested or unlabeled products, hoping they won’t get caught or that if they do get caught, the fact that their products are safe will protect them in court. But when people go around breaking laws, this lessens respect for the rule of law. Think for a minute about a law almost everybody breaks. Do you speed? Do you have respect for the speeding laws? No, because everybody around you is breaking them too. Imagine if all laws were disrespected like speeding laws. Nobody would care if they committed a crime, because everyone else does it too. When we look at places in the world where there is no respect for the rule of law, we see drug lords and warlords take over. This is not a recipe for civilization. Of course CPSIA won’t result in warlords taking over the country, but it is one step toward that path– a step we should not take, for fear the next one will be easier.

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Can’t I just use an instant lead test kit to comply with CPSIA?

whimsicalwalney — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:30:48 +0000

No, an instant lead test kit does not measure the amount of lead (parts per million) therefore would not provide the necessary results for the GCC. In addition, if the law is not changed to allow either component testing or alternative testing types, sending your goods to a third-party lab will be required at some point after the stay is lifted to comply with the law.

Also of note: In a study by the CPSC, it was found that these kits were unreliable.

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If testing and labeling are so costly why am I still seeing handmade goods in stores?

whimsicalwalney — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:22:14 +0000

Many handmade goods are still in stores for a variety of reasons. Here are some to consider:

The stay of enforcement for testing and certification until Feb 2010 has afforded many companies the opportunity to get their plans in place. They are determining how they will proceed if the requirements do not change. Many of them will go out of business if the third-party testing requirement is not changed but are able to sell their products in the meantime.
The tracking and labeling provision has not yet gone into effect. There has been any guidance on how to comply with this provision, however, therefore companies are still in limbo as to how they will meet this requirement. As with the testing and certification, many companies are getting their plans in place but have not pulled products from the market.
Some companies are able to meet CPSIA’s requirements and therefore their products will remain in the market. These companies, however, may have to raise their prices once the labeling provision goes into effect and again once the testing and certification stay is over.
Many companies and resellers are unaware that this law applies to them.
Many companies and resellers are choosing to ignore the law.

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I want my child to be safe from harm, which products should concern me?

whimsicalwalney — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:46:27 +0000

If you are concerned about the safety of an item, it is best to refer to the CPSC recall list.

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Is there video coverage related to CPSIA that I can find online?

whimsicalwalney — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:34:04 +0000

While there hasn’t been a large level of mainstream media coverage, there is a fair amount of video clips from the various hearings and other relevant events. To view a compilation of CPSIA-related videos, please click here.

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Why are people worried, wasn’t CPSIA postponed?

whimsicalwalney — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:51:09 +0000

The law, as written, has not “postponed” because it has been neither changed nor appealed although there have been numerous appeals to Congress to do so.

What did happen is that a stay of enforcement was issued for the testing and certification requirements for certain products (not all products) until February 10, 2010.

What this means is that all products must still fall within the lead and phthalate limits required by the CPSIA but they do not have to have proof of compliance (the piece of paper) required by the law until February 10, 2010.

A request was made by the National Assocation of Manufacturers for a stay on the tracking and labeling provision, but it was denied.

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Does CPSIA apply to goods produced in the U.S.?

wackyhermit — Wed, 20 May 2009 06:26:25 +0000

CPSIA applies to all children’s products, regardless of where they are manufactured. Products made in the European Union, which has a strict lead level standard (RoHS) comparable to CPSIA’s, must also be tested by the methods specified by CPSC, in addition to similar testing required by the EU. EU-required testing cannot be substituted for CPSIA-required testing. Even products made in the U.S. out of materials made in the U.S. to stringent U.S. standards fall under CPSIA’s testing and certification requirements.

Trade treaties do not allow laws that treat the products of one country differently from the products of another country. So it would violate those treaties to pass a law that required testing only for goods from, say, China.

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