Many of you are already aware of this new law and how it will effect your business in some way. We know there is alot of information out there in the different chat groups and designer boards and some if it is very confusing. Honestly, we aren't sure ourselves about some of the facts or falsehoods being told about this law. What we do know is that the law covers products made for children under the age of 12. It covers all items, including handmade clothing and accessories. Therefore, we need to act fast to find out how we can be heard in getting this law amended.
The fact is, the law is very necessary in protecting our children from dangerous products. After the huge recall of products from China, we understand and agree with the necessity of a law to prevent something like that from happening again. However, from what we can see, the way original bill was written, the irony is that most American Manufacturers and small businesses will be out of business while the China based companies will most likely flourish. Many of you have been very proactive in writing to your local and state officials about this law and you need to keep doing so. We also need to become better educated on how this law will affect us. It appears this law has been amended several times since being passed. The question is how will the final law affect your business? That is something we are not equipped to answer for you. Since we are not attorneys who can interpret this law for you, we have found several resources we hope will help.
We found some great links posted in some of the discussion boards that may help you become better informed as well as offer help in getting your voice heard on this matter.
We hope this helps and will continue to search for information as it becomes available.
Below is the actual law that goes into effect in February 2009. HR4040 was the Bill that was passed, however it is now a Senate Bill with the name and numbers listed in the documents linked below. This is link is to the actual law documentation.
There are 6 versions of this Bill. The final version listed in this link appears to be the Improvement Act linked above. If you click on it, you will see a breakdown of each section of the law and it should read like the link above.
Please note that the information we have provided to you is done so as a public service. We are not giving you legal advice and can not guide you in how to handle your business. But we will continue to update you on any information we find pertaining to this law. Feel free to leave a comment about this and share your insight for fellow designers.
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1 comment:
Actually, the law has not been amended since it was passed. There have been releases of rules since passage which is normal in the course of legislation pending enactment. Btw, there are better information sources than some of those which you list. The long running series on Fashion-incubator.com is one. I went all the way to Washington DC to meet with Cheryl Falvey of the CPSC so I've been keeping up with it. It was Fashion-Incubator who was behind the movement to get the word out on Etsy and internet forums with an organized program to publicize the law. Our forum has been the most active site on the internet with ACCURATE information. Rumors and innuendo are deleted. http://fashion-incubator.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=32
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