The Coalition for Safe and Affordable Childrenswear, which represents nearly 130 small companies in the New York area, supports strong and enforceable safety standards and applauds the steps Congress and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have taken to protect our children.  However, the CPSC's arbitrary and punitive interpretation of the law goes beyond Congress' original intent and would impose substantial to, in some cases, untenable financial burdens on our companies, without any real benefit to the public.  

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was a landmark consumer protection initiative signed into law in August 2008.  Soon after the legislation passed, the CPSC put forward regulations implementing parts of the law requiring lead testing for children's apparel and other children's products after February 10, 2009.  As part of this process, the Commission's general counsel issued an interpretation of the CPSIA, based on the lack of explicit language in the law, that it was Congress' intent to apply the testing provisions retroactively to include all items currently in inventory, and not just items manufactured after February 10.  

On February 10, these new safety standards for children’s clothing go into effect for products already on store shelves or in the supply chain which pose no public health risk.  If Congress does not intervene with the CPSC before then, these unrealistic and heavy-handed regulations could soon drive dozens of small New York apparel makers out of business and put thousands of jobs in jeopardy at the worst possible time.

Textiles are inherently lead-free, and there are no known consumer issues related to clothing products with lead-containing fixtures.  Nevertheless, our companies are already complying with the new standards set by the law for the products we are manufacturing. 

What we can’t afford to do, and what makes no sense, is to pull perfectly safe inventory that was manufactured before the law was enacted from store shelves and warehouses to be either tested or destroyed.  This would impose a significant and unjustifiable hardship at any time, but in the current downturn it would be crippling to our members, many of which are family-owned businesses that have been operating for generations.

THE SOLUTION: 
The CPSC has issued a number of rulings that exempt other products from these unreasonable regulations, notably for organic textiles and resellers of used childrenswear.  The childrenswear industry has asked the CPSC to grant us similar relief from the retroactive application of the February 10 deadline, but the general counsel denied our request.  As a result, our only recourse is for Congress to intervene.

Contact Acting CPSC Chair Nancy Nord and CPSC Commissioner Thomas Moore to ask them to overrule the General Counsel's arbitrary and punitive interpretation of the law.  Clarify Congress' intent by urging the CPSC not to retroactively apply these requirements and permit inventory lawfully manufactured before the start of this year to be sold after February 10, without having to undergo cost-prohibitive testing under the new lead standards.  

Contact your members of Congress to urge CPSIA reform.