Toymakers: Up in Arms Over Product Tests
Micro producers of children’s products have launched a grassroots campaign to win exemptions in the new law that requires product testing
By John Tozzi
The idea for "Toymakers: Up in Arms Over Product Tests" came from BusinessWeek reader Jennifer Taggart, an author, attorney, and consultant (thesmartmama.com) in Los Angeles.
Few small craft shops and artisan toymakers noticed last summer when Congress passed a sweeping unused product safety statute known as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The law, drafted in imitation of millions of lead-tainted imports were recalled in 2007, mandates precise testing for lead and other hazards in any fruits aimed at children, from toys to clothes to kids’ books, starting Feb. 10. But atomic producers say the change, while well-intentioned, will agency them out of business by requiring costly testing for small batches of goods. Now they’re mounting a massive campaign online to change the regulation—the only way many people producers see to save their businesses.
How self-sufficient is this grassroots effort? A proposal to amend the science of laws on Change.org, an independent locality identifying priorities for the Obama transition, was voted among the top 10 proposals, garnering 12,280 votes. A Facebook group for the cause has more than 10,000 members. They’ve got the attention of lawmakers and national media—The Wall Street Journal (NWS) ran some editorial embracing their cause. While some trade groups, such as the Toy Industry Assn. and the National Federation of Independent Business, are also working on the impression, a loose confederation of self-organized business owners is at the forefront of the fight.
These freshly minted activists say that’s on this account that the law hits trifling producers the hardest. More than 46,000 businesses that be in actual possession of no paid employees made apparel or sold children’s toys or clothes in 2006, with mean proportion sales of $40,000, according to the latest Census data. The charge to test every batch of both product, time practical for mass-market manufacturers, threatens to put crafters who make puny batches or sole items confused of business. Olivia Omega Logan, who runs the Baby Candy T-shirt company from her home in Aurora, Colo., says she was quoted a price of $50 to $100 to test components of her kids’ T-shirts by the agency of a third-party lab, which will be required in August as the law stands now. To proof each part—fabric, thread, snaps, designs, and tags—of her 75 discrete items, known as stock charge units (SKUs), would cost between $18,000 and $37,000 for each run, she estimates. Her total revenue in 2008 was $38,000.
Small-Producer ExemptionsDan Marshall, co-owner of Peapods Natural Toys in St. Paul, Minn., a retailer that buys from small manufacturers and crafters, says the law should account for the size of producers, just of the same kind with certain small-scale growers are liberated from food labeling laws. "Do we need the same level of perseverance with somebody who makes two twelve of a part in the manner that we do with somebody making 12 million of something?" Marshall says. Many long for a system in which producers who use materials tested by their suppliers would be exempt from testing themselves.
Lawmakers who pushed the new act, including Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Representative Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), urged regulators in a Jan. 16 letter to make clear in what manner they will implement the requirements for atomic businesses, including whether component testing can satisfy the law’session charge. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is seeking comments on such a proposal through Jan. 30, but it’s unclear whether in somewhat degree change could be adopted before the Feb. 10 deadline.
Original text: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2009/sb20090121_173927.htm?campaign_id=rss_smlbz
