CPSIA - A Little Levity (You Could Use a Break!)

Here's a couple short articles for you. The first is by Howie at Live and Learn. The second is by Barbara Hester. Congratulations to both of you, great job!

Rick


News Flash -- Congress Responds to Peanut Salmonella Scare with CPSOA Law. In response to the current peanut scare, there is a committee in Congress silently drafting the CPSOA - Consumer Peanut Safety Overkill Act. Key components of the act state that all food products must be certified that they do not contain salmonella prior to sale. This act covers all food items including those that do not contain peanuts or any peanut byproduct, including fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products, natural foods, processed foods and packaged foods. "Food" is being defined as any product placed in a person's mouth and swallowed. Therefore, due to the broad definition as defined in the CPSOA, "food" is being defined to include items that normally do not contain salmonella such as beverages (alcoholic and nonalcoholic), chewing gum, hard candy, and all medicines taken by mouth. The commission will look into granting exemptions for certain products within one year after the Act goes into effect, but until that time all food items, as defined by the CPSOA, must be removed from supermarket, pharmacy and other retail shelves plus farmer markets, farms, slaughter houses, processing plants, warehouses and any other place the products may be found unless the product has been tested to prove there are no traces of salmonella.

[Ed. Note: Does anyone remember the quote of David Arkush of Public Citizen on December 17? "Arkush admits some of the mandates may sound absurd at first blush, such as testing wooden toys for phthalates, or testing cotton T-shirts for lead. 'But we’re erring on the side of safety.'” ]


ARCTIC DAILY REVIEW
February 5, 2009

Kris Kringle (aka Santa Claus) issued a statement today expressing his sadness and disappointment regarding the new CPSIA regulations effective February 10, 2009. “I know I am a miracle worker, but even Santa cannot comply with this law. It will be virtually impossible to obtain test reports for the millions of toys our workshop manufactures each year. Besides the enormous cost for testing, certified labs are over 1,000 miles away. We do not have enough reindeer on staff to make the journey to deliver the samples, and UPS is just too expensive”. Santa has been working with the law firm Elfman and Snow since August, pouring over the details of the legislation. “This law just doesn’t make any sense!”.

Santa's main distribution center is a sight to behold. At 4,000,000 square feet (370,000 m2), it's one of the world's largest facilities. A real-time warehouse management system is of course required to run such a complex. The WMS and transportation system are fully integrated, allowing the elves to make optimal decisions that balance transportation and order picking and other DC costs. Unbeknownst to many, Santa actually has to use many sleighs and drivers to get the job done Christmas Eve, and the TMS optimally builds thousands of consolidated sacks that maximize cube utilization and minimize total air miles.

Unfortunately, this facility that employs thousands of workers will be closing on February 10. “We have tried unsuccessfully to reach out to the American Congress for relief, they just won’t listen. Today, it is with great regret that I am announcing Christmas is officially cancelled”.