Micro producers of children’s products have launched a grassroots campaign to win exemptions in the fresh law that requires product testing

By John Tozzi

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The idea on account of "Toymakers: Up in Arms Over Product Tests" came from BusinessWeek reader Jennifer Taggart, some author, attorney, and consultant (thesmartmama.com) in Los Angeles.

Few small vessel shops and artisan toymakers noticed last summer when Congress passed a comprehensive new product safety statute known as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The edict, drafted in imitation of millions of lead-tainted imports were recalled in 2007, mandates strict testing for go before as guide and other hazards in any crops aimed at children, from toys to raiment to kids’ books, starting Feb. 10. But small producers decide the change, while well-intentioned, will force them out of business by requiring rich testing for small batches of goods. Now they’re mounting a massive campaign online to change the regulation—the only way many producers see to save their businesses.

How big is this grassroots attempt? A proposal to reform. the law on Change.org, an independent site identifying priorities for the Obama transition, was voted among the top 10 proposals, garnering 12,280 votes. A Facebook group through regard to the cause has more than 10,000 members. They’ve got the study of lawmakers and national media—The Wall Street Journal (NWS) ran an editorial embracing their original. While some trade groups, such as the Toy Industry Assn. and the National Federation of Independent Business, are also working forward the sending out, a loose confederation of self-organized business owners is at the forefront of the fight.

These freshly minted activists say that’sitting because the law hits small producers the hardest. More than 46,000 businesses that obtain no paid employees made apparel or sold children’s toys or clothes in 2006, with average sales of $40,000, according to the latest Census data. The edict to test each batch of every product, at the same time that practical for mass-market manufacturers, threatens to put crafters who find small batches or unique items out of business. Olivia Omega Logan, who runs the Baby Candy T-shirt company from her home in Aurora, Colo., says she was quoted a price of $50 to $100 to test components of her kids’ T-shirts by a third-party lab, which will be required in August as the law stands now. To test each part—fabric, thread, snaps, designs, and tags—of her 75 discrete items, known as stock keeping units (SKUs), would cost between $18,000 and $37,000 for each run, she estimates. Her gross amount revenue in 2008 was $38,000.

Dan Marshall, co-owner of Peapods Natural Toys in St. Paul, Minn., a retailer that buys from small manufacturers and crafters, says the law should account for the size of producers, just of the same kind with infallible small-scale growers are exempt from aliment labeling laws. "Do we need the same level of diligence with somebody who makes two dozen of event as we carry into practice with somebody form 12 million of something?" Marshall says. Many craving a arrangement in what one. producers who use materials tested by the agency of dint of. their suppliers would be exempt from testing themselves.

Lawmakers who pushed the new simulate, including Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Representative Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), urged regulators in a Jan. 16 letter to clarify how they will implement the requirements for small businesses, including whether component testing can satisfy the law’s mandate. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is seeking comments on similar a proposal through Jan. 30, but it’s unclear whether any change could be adopted before the Feb. 10 deadline.