September 10, 2009

My name is Jill Chuckas and I own a small hand crafted children’s accessories business called Crafty Baby (www.craftybaby.com). In December, when I learned that the CPSIA would indeed affect my business, I joined and quickly took on a leadership role within the Handmade Toy Alliance. Currently, I am on the executive board and hold the position of Secretary. Our grass roots alliance of almost 400 businesses, represent children’s product artisans, small batch manufacturers and retailers of children’s products throughout the country. Today, I am here to share not only my story, but the stories of all the members of the Handmade Toy Alliance.

As a hand crafted artist, I am involved in every aspect of my business – from production to sales, advertising and marketing to accounts receivable. When the toy recalls began, my business increased. People were seeking out hand crafted and made in the USA products in droves. When Congress first spoke of this “toy safety” legislation, I applauded their efforts along with the rest of the country. In December of 2008, though, I read the fine print. I, along with many others, quickly realized that this law, meant to regulate the companies that had betrayed the countries trust, would effectively put me out of business in less than a year. Not because my products are unsafe, but because I simply can not afford the cost prohibitive, redundant testing protocol that this law stipulates.

The biggest obstacle to compliance for our membership is the third party testing protocol. The companies represented by the Handmade Toy Alliance are very small – many have only one or two employees, if that. Many are operated out of homes and are a supplement to the family income. All are run out of a love for children, and a desire to share products that are an alternative to the mass produced items that invade our society. Some strive to become larger – possibly employing 5-10 people – but most like being small and having personal relationships with their customers. Jill Courtright of Auntie Jill’s Shop (VT), recently shared with me the joy she was having in working with a four year old to design a stuffed animal just for him. Under the CPSIA, she would not be able to do this work because the cost of third party testing this one stuffed animal would be 10 times as much as what she would sell it for (as well as being a destructive test). At sixty five, Linda Moore Kurth, owner of Whimsmoore, LLC (WA), had finally realized her twenty five year long dream of having a children’s toy, gift and book site that invites children’s imaginations out to play. Although she had her product line tested using XRF scan technology and is confident that her products are safe for children and meet the standards of the CPSIA, this is not sufficient for her to prove compliance. She is wrestling with the reality, like so many of us within the Handmade Toy Alliance, that she may have to close the doors to her business.

A major issue within the CPSIA, as we see it, is the lack of flexibility within the law to employ risk assessment and alternative forms of testing to prove compliance. Our members agree with the original intent of the law – to provide our nation’s children with safe products. In doing so, compliance needs to be geared at products as a whole – looking at the parts used to put together a product. The reality is that many of our members use raw materials from the same supplier, whether it be fabric, wood, ASTM certified non toxic paint, finished Onesies, snaps, zippers or so on (and have compliance certificates from those suppliers), to make their finished products. Good sense would dictate that if these items were tested prior to being sourced to our members, than why should the materials be tested again? At the very most, using a technology already employed by the CPSC, such as an XRF hand held scanner, would seem highly appropriate. Yet, the CPSIA does not allow for this common sense approach to proving compliance.

Another obstacle for many of our members – particularly retail store owners and importers – is the lack of harmonization with European Union standards. The European Union has long had stronger safety standards than the US and toys entering our market stream have certification of passing these standards. Yet the CPSIA does not allow for this testing to be accepted as proof of compliance. For that reason, many beautifully hand crafted toys and products from Europe have been pulled from the US market. These products are completely compliant with the levels set forth within the CPSIA, but because the testing protocol in the EU tests for soluble lead (or ingestible lead) rather than total lead content, the testing is deemed invalid. Science has shown us that soluble lead is of greater concern than total lead content, but the CPSIA does not lend itself to this implementation of risk assessment. Handmade Toy Alliance member Jonathan Green of Jonathan Green & Co. (NJ) who specialize in German products shared with me, that now, many store owners, including his, will no longer be able to supply customers with products from their native Northern European countries that express and maintain their ethnic heritage.

All of our members have expressed frustration in the lack of flexibility and use of risk assessment within the law itself. We recognize that in the last few months, a number of rulings have been issued by the CPSC that have brought some relief to our members. We also recognize that more rulings are soon to be issued that may bring additional relief. Although we are happy to see common sense implementation of the CPSIA by the CPSC, we continue to feel strongly that change needs to come directly from the law itself. As we have seen on numerous other occasions, rulings by regulatory agencies can be overturned. The very fabric of the law allows for litigation, and little “wiggle” room in interpretation. The Handmade Toy Alliance has put forth documents we call “Seeds of Change” that highlights our suggestions for common sense changes within the CPSIA. We urge the committee to consider these suggestions in a technical amendment to the CPSIA.

Thank you for the committee’s willingness to open the CPSIA up for discussion in the House of Representatives.

Best Regards,

Jill Chuckas
Owner, Designer
Secretary, Handmade Toy Alliance
www.craftybaby.com
www.handmadetoyalliance.org