SIMBA Toys Pulls Out of USA; Thanks CPSIA

Another European manufacturer has pulled out of the USA as a direct result of the CPSIA.  Simba is a manufacturer of high quality wooden toys.  How many natural toy companies need to disappear from this country before people wake up?  Below is the letter from the US importer.

Hello everyone,

I want to inform you that Simba Toys USA, Inc. will cease operations in the

U.S.

  As you all know the new CPSIA Act that was signed by President Bush in August 2008 has created quite a bit of chaos in the toy industry.   Now under the new legislature European companies must test EN71 for their markets and ASTM for the

U.S.

 

Simba Toys has done extensive cost/profit analysis on the products that we carry in the

U.S.

, and as a result they have decided to pull out of their

U.S.

distribution due to the expense incurred with testing all of the items for ASTM testing.  Although all their items are safe and are certified under the European EN71 standard, the costs involved for the ASTM certificate are too high to support their sales numbers

In the meantime, we will not receive any new Simba items that are featured in our 2009 catalog.  We will continue to sell the inventory we have on hand, but will not bring in any additional inventory.  I am attaching a list of items that are still available, which have all passed EN71 testing requirements and are also in compliance with the current

US

requirements!  We will continue to ship these items until the stock is depleted.

While this news is disappointing, we completely understand and empathize with the difficult decision Simba

Germany

had to make.  At this point in time, it is very important that the business we/they do is solid, profitable and makes the most business sense.  On behalf of everyone at Simba Toys U.S., I’d like to thank all of you for all of your hard work over the years building the Simba relationships.  We truly appreciate all of your efforts and apologize for the inconvenience this causes you.

 Regards,

 Tracy Jojokian

Vice President of Sales

Ravensburger-F.X. Schmid USA, Inc.

Simba Toys USA, Inc.