Amend CPSIA

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The passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) marked another well-intentioned law filled with unintended consequences. This retroactive measure is taking millions of products off the shelves that are aimed at youth 12 and younger and which possess no indicated harm to the user, rather than focusing on the safety of future manufactured products. While we should continuously seek to ensure our children’s safety from harmful products, we must do so with a measured approach that the CPSIA currently lacks.

CPSIA has the potential to cripple many businesses and industries, including thrift shops, used book stores, consignment shops, libraries, motorcycle and ATV shops, and many others. Testing to ensure compliance can be exorbitant and will force many small businesses to close.  Aside from the monies lost through product testing and removing inventory from shelves, businesses are now exposed to increased liability for the sale of products they have been legally selling for years, such as instruments, scouting badges, home school learning kits, books, clothes, toys and a myriad of other products. Small businesses and home-based businesses that keep families afloat are at risk of collapsing due to the unintended consequences of this poorly-thought out bill.

In addition to oversight by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, state attorneys general also have enforcement authority and could decide to aggressively pursue small businesses, or even sellers on eBay, if they so choose. Even as non-profits, libraries and other groups affected by this new law are being told the Commission is not likely to come after them, there’s nothing to stop personal injury lawyers from trolling for violations. This could very well create a new cottage industry for attorneys looking to make some easy money.
Moreover, the very group this law is intended to protect will suffer the consequences: consumers will ultimately have less choice when purchasing children’s products and in some cases will be forced to spend more money on new products rather than stretch their dollar at secondhand and thrift stores that often help support the less fortunate.

This bill was well-intentioned and could still serve a public good. Youth safety and small business protection are compatible when knee-jerk reactions like CPSIA are reexamined.

I urge you to hold hearings on CPSIA to amend this law so it does as it was intended – protect children, not harm businesses.

Sincerely,

Joomla Professional Work

Amend CPSIA

If this law is not amended, there is no telling how high the economic costs could get, especially once personal injury lawyers get involved by trolling for violations to make themselves easy money. No one will be safe, not small businesses, not sellers on eBay or Craigslist, not a citizen holding a garage sale. We must demand reform now!

Write Congressman Waxman and demand hearings into the mess that has come from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).