Save Small Business From the CPSIA

A new law was quietly passed by Congress that will almost certainly put many eco-friendly companies out of busines within the next few months

It is an ill-conceived "child safety" law aimed at Chinese imports containing lead in its intention, but hastily written and passed with no consideration whatsoever for the American handcrafter or entrepreneur who makes one-of-a-kind products using components purchased in their local American fabric stores, lumber yards or craft shops. It will literally affect every small US-based company, handcrafter, retailer, reseller, thrift store, non-profit, church or anyone else who sells or buys products for children under the age of 12 -- and that includes clothing, books, etc.

Please read about it here http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

Sign the Petition Here http://reformcpsia.org/

If your want small eco-business to thrive, please vote for revisions that will exclude at very least, the American handcrafter . . . this law can be revised, but time is fleeting.

Selling toys and clothing for children that do not get independent lab testing for EACH batch (which could be each item for handcrafters) will soon become a felony. And all existing inventory will have to be destroyed -- we get no "grandfathering" consideration here either. The businesses listed in the Happyhippie.com Directory, selling organic toys and clothing DO NOT contain lead. However, small businesses will likely be driven out of business by the costs of mandatory testing, to the tune of as much as $4,000 or more per item. And the few larger manufacturers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.