Is it possible that a company can “cheat” the CPSIA requirements?
Well, anything’s possible. Certainly the practice of having “special” samples sent off for testing is not unheard of. However, there are many non-nefarious ways that the sample that is tested may be different from the product. People make honest mistakes. Manufacturers or importers can be cheated by their suppliers and contractors substituting inferior materials or products. Mistakes and unforeseeable problems are certainly much more common in the business world than nefarious corporate money-grubbers out to line their pockets with filthy lucre by poisoning innocent children.
In any event, CPSIA, like the laws that preceded it and all the laws that will follow it, cannot guarantee that no one will ever try to cheat the system. As the old saying goes, “Nothing is foolproof because fools are so ingenious.”
This is a major concern of mine. As a retailer, I fear that unethical practices will be on a rise since the CPSIA may possibly exempt precious metals from this testing process. How can I protect myself?
Sadly, the only way to protect yourself is to have test results of your own. With precious metals and stones, that can get pretty expensive.