Posted on 10/31/2009 6:01:48 PM PDT by reaganaut1
For 35 years, William John Woods has made wooden toys for children. Each one of the 2,000 or so he makes each year passes through his hands at his shop in Ogunquit, Maine, and no child, he said, has ever been hurt by one of his small boats, cars, helicopters or rattles.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Nanny state at its best.
The requirements also hit thrift stores and charities that redistribute used and donated items. The burden of liability falls on them, not the manufacturer, and extends to children’s clothing.
Many thrifts and charities no longer carry infant and children’s items for this reason.
Easy to see that this hurts many more than it saves.
Red China's tyrants don't care who they poison as long as they are making yuan. Poisoned dog food, contaminated toys, toxic sheet-rock, it just doesn't matter to them.
Forcing our toymakers, who are not implicated in these scandals, to go through testing engendered by the PRC's stunning disregard for our health and safety is beyond stupid.
Shutting down Santa this year
You might think this was just accidental stupidity.
But it curiously resembles what the feds did to small, independent farmers. They passed all kinds of rules and subsidies that favored factory farms and weighed heavily against family farms. Why? Because large factory farms are big donors, and small farmers are not.
In the same way, I imagine the big toymakes donate generously, but handicrafters like this guy in Maine do not.
So, what do you want to bet that we continue letting poisonous Chinese toys into the country for distribution by large companies, while second hand shops and handicrafters are put out of business?
They are too late. This law went into effect around March of this year, after much criticism from consumers. resale shops etc. All because of lead toys from China. but no one in China has been punished. They have been rewarded with even more work.
My brother in law was part owner of a resale shop. Antiques. toys, games, household, modern, old, they sold it all. He sold out his share because his fear was government interference in their business. We should be recycling perfectly good old furniture and everything else. but no. Now we have to throw good stuff away because it (might) contain traces of lead or some other invisible toxin.
Yet we import crap from china with CONFIRMED toxicity and someone is protecting that import business.
We don’t make much of anything in America. All we do is consume. We make money selling crap other countries make for us. No wonder our economy is in shambles. We don’t create jobs out of thin air. This government is rogue and out of touch with reality. all they want to do is own us and protect us so they can rescue us. And spit us out when they are done with us.
Yep they promised they’d amend it but nope it’s now wetn into effect with no changes at all. Up next people being busted for selling kids toys and clothing that hasn’t been tested and being fined $10k!
Great. Just f****** great.
BUMP!
Handmade toys. Another precious piece of Americana flushed down the toilet by the nanny police. Disgusting.
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