Handmade toy makers need your help

Beautiful custom handmade lavendar millet babies made to order for my girls by cat123.etsy.com and http://cathrynscreations.blogspot.com/ a Local New Yorker.




Handmade toy makers need your help.Back in August, the US Government did a good thing--they responded to the mass influx of imported toys containing materials hazardous tochildren by creating the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act(CPSIA). The Act mandates testing for all toys sold in the US. This is a good thing, but it's also a bad thing, as no provision was made in the CPSIA to protect handmade toys and toy makers. Those who operate cottage industries are not going to be able to afford the $4,000 required to have their dolls and toys tested and confirmed to meet the new government standards. That means many of the small shops that make Waldorf dolls and toys may be forced out of business when the CPSIA goes into effect in February 2009. The irony is that many of the small businesses trusted to make safe toys for our children will be unable to keep making those safe, natural, and organic toys if the CPSIA goes into full effect. Only large scale manufacturers and retailers will be able to meet the requirements, effectively closing the market to all but those able to mass produce their toys.They need our help.

Please, go to the Handmade Toy Alliance website at http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/Read and get information about the CPSIA and then, if you're so motivated, please send a letter or an email or a fax to your Congressional representatives and your Senators, urging them to eliminate the need for testing for small toy manufacturers, or at least to make the testing covered by government funds for those who make handmade toys.