Small manufacturers pleaded with Congress for relief from a law that made millions of dollars’ worth of products illegal in February because they might contain excessive levels of lead and industrial compounds known as phthalates.
Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act in August 2008 in response to the discovery of high lead content in toys imported from China. But U.S. businesses contend the law has made it impossible for them to sell products that pose no health threat to children.
Manufacturers complain the law’s requirements to test and certify children’s products for lead and phthalates — and attach permanent tracking labels on them — are unreasonable and too costly for many small businesses.
Supporters of the legislation contend the Consumer Product Safety Commission has done a poor job of providing guidance to businesses on how to comply with the legislation. They also maintain the commission has the authority to exclude certain classes of products from the law’s requirements if they don’t pose a health risk.
But Nancy Nord, the acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, testified at a May 14 House hearing that the agency is “hamstrung by the law’s sweeping reach and inflexibility.”
The commission has “not yet been able to identify any products that would meet the law’s requirements for exclusions,” Nord said.
On Jan. 30, the commission issued a one-year stay of enforcement for the law’s testing and certification requirements.
“It was very clear people were not ready to meet the requirements,” Nord said.
But this stay of enforcement did not relieve manufacturers or retailers of the underlying legal liability for selling products that did not meet the law’s lower lead and phthalate levels, which went into effect Feb. 10.
“According to the retailing community, the stay changes nothing,” said David McCubbin, a partner in McCubbin Hosiery, an Oklahoma City manufacturer. “Retailers continue to ask us to test.”
Even though there is no evidence that his company’s hosiery contains lead, his company will be forced to pay more than $500,000 on lead testing over the next year, McCubbin said.
For Swimways Corp., a Virginia Beach, Va.-based manufacturer of water products, the problem isn’t lead, it’s phthalates — compounds often used to soften vinyl. The law banned the sale of children’s products that contained phthalates, even if the parts containing phthalates are not accessible.
Because the law made the new phthalates standard retroactive, Swimways was stuck with inventory it couldn’t sell. Retailers returned or destroyed Swimways merchandise and charged Swimways for the expense. The law cost the 70-employee company more than $1 million, said Anthony Vittone, vice president and general counsel.
The law could cost creators of handmade items their businesses, home-based crafters testified.
Suzanne Lang, owner of Starbright Baby Teething Giraffes in Boalsburg, Pa., created 36 patterns of giraffes last year. To test each of these items for lead and phthalates would cost up to $81,000, she said. She only grossed $4,500 last year.
Unless the law is changed, “thousands of small businesses and crafters will be put out of business in this already tough economic climate,” Lang said.
Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., who chaired the House Small Business Committee panel that held the hearing, pledged to work on a solution to the law’s problems.
“This is just the first step,” he said.
But Altmire blamed “ineffective leadership” at the Consumer Product Safety Commission and “the vagueness of important CPSC guidelines” for most of the problems. He hopes new leadership and a bigger budget for the agency “will lead to a smoother transition to these new regulations.”
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/
Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act in August 2008 in response to the discovery of high lead content in toys imported from China. But U.S. businesses contend the law has made it impossible for them to sell products that pose no health threat to children.
Manufacturers complain the law’s requirements to test and certify children’s products for lead and phthalates — and attach permanent tracking labels on them — are unreasonable and too costly for many small businesses.
Supporters of the legislation contend the Consumer Product Safety Commission has done a poor job of providing guidance to businesses on how to comply with the legislation. They also maintain the commission has the authority to exclude certain classes of products from the law’s requirements if they don’t pose a health risk.
But Nancy Nord, the acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, testified at a May 14 House hearing that the agency is “hamstrung by the law’s sweeping reach and inflexibility.”
The commission has “not yet been able to identify any products that would meet the law’s requirements for exclusions,” Nord said.
On Jan. 30, the commission issued a one-year stay of enforcement for the law’s testing and certification requirements.
“It was very clear people were not ready to meet the requirements,” Nord said.
But this stay of enforcement did not relieve manufacturers or retailers of the underlying legal liability for selling products that did not meet the law’s lower lead and phthalate levels, which went into effect Feb. 10.
“According to the retailing community, the stay changes nothing,” said David McCubbin, a partner in McCubbin Hosiery, an Oklahoma City manufacturer. “Retailers continue to ask us to test.”
Even though there is no evidence that his company’s hosiery contains lead, his company will be forced to pay more than $500,000 on lead testing over the next year, McCubbin said.
For Swimways Corp., a Virginia Beach, Va.-based manufacturer of water products, the problem isn’t lead, it’s phthalates — compounds often used to soften vinyl. The law banned the sale of children’s products that contained phthalates, even if the parts containing phthalates are not accessible.
Because the law made the new phthalates standard retroactive, Swimways was stuck with inventory it couldn’t sell. Retailers returned or destroyed Swimways merchandise and charged Swimways for the expense. The law cost the 70-employee company more than $1 million, said Anthony Vittone, vice president and general counsel.
The law could cost creators of handmade items their businesses, home-based crafters testified.
Suzanne Lang, owner of Starbright Baby Teething Giraffes in Boalsburg, Pa., created 36 patterns of giraffes last year. To test each of these items for lead and phthalates would cost up to $81,000, she said. She only grossed $4,500 last year.
Unless the law is changed, “thousands of small businesses and crafters will be put out of business in this already tough economic climate,” Lang said.
Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., who chaired the House Small Business Committee panel that held the hearing, pledged to work on a solution to the law’s problems.
“This is just the first step,” he said.
But Altmire blamed “ineffective leadership” at the Consumer Product Safety Commission and “the vagueness of important CPSC guidelines” for most of the problems. He hopes new leadership and a bigger budget for the agency “will lead to a smoother transition to these new regulations.”
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/
0 comments:
Post a Comment