CPSIA - CPSIA Casualty of the Week for October 27

The Alliance for Children's Product Safety is distributing the "CPSIA Casualty of the Week," to highlight how the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) is disrupting the U.S. marketplace. These updates are meant to draw attention to the problems faced by small businesses, public institutions, consumers and others trying to comply with senseless and often contradictory provisions that are doing little or nothing to improve product safety.

CPSIA Casualty of the Week for October 27:

As this CPSIA Casualty of the Week illustrates, the CPSIA continues to wreak havoc in our marketplace. Congress and the CPSC need to address the problems with CPSIA implementation to help small businesses by restoring "common sense" to our nation's product safety laws.

Middleton, Wisconsin Police Department

Thanks to CPSIA, scared kids can no longer be given stuffed animals by police to comfort them

Police Switch To Handing Out Books To Children

Wisconsin media reported on October 12, 2009 that because of CPSIA, the Middleton, WI police department will no longer use stuffed animals to comfort children who have gone through traumatic events. Middleton Police Sgt Don Mueller said that the police for years could hand out stuffed animals or other toys to “help children feel a little better.” Now because of CPSIA, the police department is switching to books from stuffed animals “because of the chemicals they might contain….to make sure they're in compliance with new federal regulations.” As Sgt. Mueller puts it “[we] get older toys that come in and they're perfectly fine to give out, but we don't know if they were made under the new requirements." A much-needed comfort program has been converted into a misplaced literacy effort. (Editors note: Those books better be made after 1985. CPSC announced that “it cannot determine” if children’s books made before 1985 do not exceed the lead limit because of the ink and will issue guidance on this issue “soon”).

[Full story is here.]

Do not accept the status quo! Tell Congress and the

CPSC to restore "common sense" to our nation's product safety laws.

Call CPSC and Congress.

Click here to find your Representative.

Consumer Product Safety Commission

Office of Chairman Inez Tenenbaum

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

4330 East West Highway

Bethesda, MD 20814

(301) 504-7900

Office of the Small Business Ombudsman

U.S. CPSC

Washington, D.C. 20207

CPSIA Information (301) 504-7429

Tel. (888) 531-9070