FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Liz Vittori Koch
Hatched LLC
5 Green Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Tel. 617-524-5402
liz@hatchedboston.com
Boston-Area Kids
Retailers Aim to Stem Confusion, Bring Awareness to new Consumer Products Law
with Media Event on February 10th, 2009
(Boston, MA) February 9th, 2009— A joint press conference among consumers, retailers, distributors, and manufacturers on Tuesday February 10th in Boston aims to raise awareness about the impact of the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) on the children’s products market. The press conference is scheduled for 5:30pm February 10th at Hatched a natural baby products store at 5 Green Street in Jamaica Plain, MA. The February 10th date marks the latest implementation of the law’s new lead and phthalate standards in children’s products, including toys, apparel and other goods.
Since its passage in August 2008, the controversial new law has caused massive confusion in the children’s products industry. Passed in response to highly-reported product recalls in 2007, CPSIA broadly regulates the amount of lead and phthalates in all children’s products. Many in the toy industry initially applauded the law, but overly burdensome testing, reversals on planned deadlines and other non-safety related requirements have lead to business closures and serious financial loss for others.
The message they want to get out? It’s two-fold. According to Jen Grinnell, owner of the Sherborn-based company LivingPlaying.com, “Many small businesses that sell or make children’s products still don’t know about the law, or don’t believe that it impacts them. It’s imperative that we let these businesses know what they must do to comply. We don’t want to see anyone in jail for inadvertently selling or making untested products. The law’s phased in deadlines have changed too. It’s a confusing mess.”
Originally the CPSC had ruled that the phthalate ban did not apply to existing inventory. Businesses were focused on certifying that their products met the lead rule. However, they were taken by surprise last Thursday when the District Court of Southern New York overturned the CPSC opinion, and ruled that the CPSIA regulations apply to existing inventory. Thursday's court ruling gave businesses 4 short days to determine if their inventories contain phthalates. Testing for phthalates typically starts at over $1,000 per product. “When I tell retailers about the change in the law, some say ‘What’s a phthalate?’” said Grinnell.
The CPSC has announced that they will abide by the court's decision. The ruling has caught the CPSC off guard as well. They have yet to issue appropriate guidelines for compliance or the scope of enforcement.
According to Rob Wilson of Challenge & Fun in Ashland, "we are lucky we don't sell anything with phthalates, but as a matter of principle, I think it is outrageous that our government may put thousands of companies out of business overnight because they cannot financially or logistically prove that their inventory, which met standards last week, meet the new standards this week."
Although a January 30th ruling by the CPSC granted a one-year stay in the testing and certification requirements for specific products, the new standards will still be in force, and retailers are still demanding certificates. This means that suppliers must still test their product to ensure compliance, and retailers must know what they are selling. This is troublesome for companies who are struggling to complete their testing in time, and at a cost that won't put them out of business.
But, according to Grinnell “we also are trying to promote a more reasonable testing program based on component testing. We hope Congress is listening. It will keep the high safety standards the same, yet allow small business to be able to afford to comply with the new law and stay in business.”
Component testing and certification, where suppliers certify that certain materials meet new lead and phthalate limits, would eliminate the need for costly duplicative testing. The idea for component testing programs is supported by several children’s products groups, including the Handmade Toy Alliance, CPSIA-Central, Fashion-Incubator, the National Apparel Manufactures, ASTRA and others.
With all this talk about lead and phthalates, it may seem odd that a store dedicated to selling natural baby products would host this CPSIA event, but according to owner, Liz Vittori-Koch "we have built our store around the finest, safest, and most natural products for babies and young children, and yet we are concerned that the testing and certification requirements of this law will cause products supplied by our small, natural manufacturers to disappear."
Wilson is returning to Boston from Nuremberg, Germany where he met with many suppliers of natural toys, including Selecta Spielzeug and Sina Spielzeug. Selecta and Sina stopped shipping to the US market last month due to the CPSIA, both of which were previously carried at Hatched. He stated, "in addition to general confusion about the law, these European companies were concerned about complying with the permanent marking requirement coming into effect in August, and which will be very expensive for small production runs. They are also worried that the 3rd party testing requirements will force them to greatly narrow their product offering or stop selling to the USA altogether."
This is the concern that members of the Handmade Toy Alliance, have expressed, and is a major concern for Liz Vittori-Koch, "If my access to unique, natural products runs dry, I'll no longer have my business, and the customers that have come to rely on my store for quality, safe products, will have a difficult time finding such items anywhere."
Some have coined the phrase to describe February 10th as National Bankruptcy Day. It is more likely that the damage will occur over a longer period of time. Wilson said “The question is, at a time when the country is concerned about product safety, doesn't it make sense to have an understandable, yet targeted law that focuses on the real risks, and strictly controls those risks? Our country needs a law that understands and supports businesses that offer quality unique products, rather than making low production volume a critical disadvantage. These are the very companies consumers sought out in 2007.”
Rob Wilson, Liz Vittori-Koch and Jen Grinnell are all members of CPSIA-Central.ning.com, an online social networking group founded by Wilson to raise awareness about the impact of the new CPSIA law on businesses nationwide.
Liz Vittori-Koch
Owner, Hatched (Jamaica Plain, MA)
Tel. 617-524-5402
Jen Grinnell
Owner, LivingPlaying.com (Sherborn, MA)
Tel. 888-334-1313
Rob Wilson
Vice President, Challenge & Fun (Ashland, MA)
Tel. 508-881-7500
cpsia@challengeandfun.com
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