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NEW FEDERAL REGULATION THREATENS AMERICAN HANDMADE TOYS
NY Times - William John Woods makes wooden baby rattles and toys at his studio in Ogunquit, Maine.
But now he and others like him - makers of small toys and owners of toy resale shops and boutique stores - say their livelihood is being threatened by federal legislation enacted in the last year to protect children from toxic toys through more extensive testing. Big toymakers, including those whose tainted imports from China led to the recall of 45 million toys and spurred Congress to take action, have more resources and are able to comply with the new law's requirements.
"This is absurd," said Mr. Woods, whose toys are made of maple, walnut and cherry and finished with walnut oil and beeswax from a local apiary. He estimates it would cost him $30,000 - a figure he calculated from having to pay $400 in required tests for each of the 80 or so different items he produces - to show that they are not toxic.
"I use beeswax," Mr. Woods said. "The law was targeted at large toymakers using lead. There was no exclusion for benign products."
These homegrown toymakers are banding together to portray themselves as victims of bureaucrats and consumer advocates, and have started letter-writing campaigns to Congress.
The Handmade Toy Alliance, which has a section of its Web site titled "Countdown to Extinction," sponsored a march on Washington last April and continues to buttonhole members of Congress. Still others have hired the Washington lobbying firm of Rudy Giuliani.
"The law is flawed," said Rob Wilson, a director of the Handmade Toy Alliance, which wants Congress to reopen the 2008 legislation to new amendments. "It reflects decision-making that in a sane world makes no sense."
"The law isn't making toys more safe, but is making everything more convoluted," added Mr. Wilson, owner of Challenge and Fun, an Ashland, Mass., company that sells organic toys from Europe. "We're all losers, including the consumer."
But now he and others like him - makers of small toys and owners of toy resale shops and boutique stores - say their livelihood is being threatened by federal legislation enacted in the last year to protect children from toxic toys through more extensive testing. Big toymakers, including those whose tainted imports from China led to the recall of 45 million toys and spurred Congress to take action, have more resources and are able to comply with the new law's requirements.
"This is absurd," said Mr. Woods, whose toys are made of maple, walnut and cherry and finished with walnut oil and beeswax from a local apiary. He estimates it would cost him $30,000 - a figure he calculated from having to pay $400 in required tests for each of the 80 or so different items he produces - to show that they are not toxic.
"I use beeswax," Mr. Woods said. "The law was targeted at large toymakers using lead. There was no exclusion for benign products."
These homegrown toymakers are banding together to portray themselves as victims of bureaucrats and consumer advocates, and have started letter-writing campaigns to Congress.
The Handmade Toy Alliance, which has a section of its Web site titled "Countdown to Extinction," sponsored a march on Washington last April and continues to buttonhole members of Congress. Still others have hired the Washington lobbying firm of Rudy Giuliani.
"The law is flawed," said Rob Wilson, a director of the Handmade Toy Alliance, which wants Congress to reopen the 2008 legislation to new amendments. "It reflects decision-making that in a sane world makes no sense."
"The law isn't making toys more safe, but is making everything more convoluted," added Mr. Wilson, owner of Challenge and Fun, an Ashland, Mass., company that sells organic toys from Europe. "We're all losers, including the consumer."
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