Published: Monday, April 13, 2009
Local toy makers, sellers gain reprieve with delay of new testing rules
Delay of new rules helps, but law needs revision, groups say
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Culver (left), 5, and Hollis Bontrager, 3, laugh as they play at Rowdy Rascals toy store in Snohomish earlier this month. Their mother, Melana Bontrager, was visiting the store for the first time after hearing about the local business through word-of-mouth at a local park.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald Rowdy Rascals toy store in Snohomish sign on 1st Street. Photo taken 0404098
SNOHOMISH -- For all of 10 seconds, the gleeful shouts and screams that fill a small Snohomish toy shop come to a halt.
All eyes and ears turn to Debbie Baillie as she offers her best rendition of a dog barking. A little girl squeals with delight. Parents clap and whisper, "She sounds just like a dog."
And then the children are off again: fighting wars between knight figurines, trying on pirate hats and "driving" cars down the toy shop aisles.
Rowdy Rascals Toy Store is packed with parents and children on Tuesday morning after hosting a puppet show next door. There was a time, however, when Baillie, who co-owns the shop, feared for Rowdy Rascals' future.
Federal and state child safety laws threatened to impose costly testing requirements on the products the Snohomish toy shop carries. Much of Rowdy Rascals' toy inventory would have been unusable.
"At the time, I did think we were done for," Baillie said.
And so did a few of Baillie's customers. Some have even called to make sure Rowdy Rascals is still in business. The answer is an adamant "yes."
Earlier this year, the government gave a one-year reprieve for testing and certification requirements for some children's products. And Washington lawmakers withdrew state standards that would have required even stricter requirements. The state law, Baillie said, would have put her shop out of business.
Today, toy manufacturers need to comply with the standards but, with exceptions, don't need to test and certify their products until August at the earliest. The federal law has rolling compliance dates for lead and phthalates requirements.
The U.S. law was introduced after a wave of recalled toxic toys -- many from China -- surfaced in late 2007. Toy manufacturers and shop owners like Baillie say the law, while well intentioned, was put together poorly.
"What concerns me about this law is all the unintended consequences," she said.
Baillie blames large toy manufacturers, like Mattel, for poor quality control. Small manufacturers, who already make toys free of lead and phthlates, will be overwhelmed with the cost of testing and certifying their products, Baillie said. Several German toy manufacturers already have pulled their products from the U.S. market even though their toys comply with stricter European regulations because they can't afford the added certification costs, she said.
"The law is punishing the ones who make the safe toys," Baillie said.
Small manufacturers of toys and children's clothing, along with shop owners around the country, have banded together in opposition to the law, holding a rally in Washington, D.C., on April 1. Last week, two U.S. congressmen drafted a bill that would clarify some of the implications of the original Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Industry groups like the Toy Industry Association are urging members to lobby their representatives in Congress to support the legislation.
"The industry needs to call upon Congress to recognize that the CPSIA needs to be revisited immediately," Carter Keithley, president of the Toy Industry Association, said in a statement. "The implementation of the law should be delayed until oversight hearings can be held and the law can be fixed."
Baillie said she's already seen the cost of toys rise as manufacturers gear up for certifying the products. Unless the law is reworked, Baillie fears consumers will see higher prices and less selection.
"We're going to lose a lot of great quality toys," Baillie said.
All eyes and ears turn to Debbie Baillie as she offers her best rendition of a dog barking. A little girl squeals with delight. Parents clap and whisper, "She sounds just like a dog."
And then the children are off again: fighting wars between knight figurines, trying on pirate hats and "driving" cars down the toy shop aisles.
Rowdy Rascals Toy Store is packed with parents and children on Tuesday morning after hosting a puppet show next door. There was a time, however, when Baillie, who co-owns the shop, feared for Rowdy Rascals' future.
Federal and state child safety laws threatened to impose costly testing requirements on the products the Snohomish toy shop carries. Much of Rowdy Rascals' toy inventory would have been unusable.
"At the time, I did think we were done for," Baillie said.
And so did a few of Baillie's customers. Some have even called to make sure Rowdy Rascals is still in business. The answer is an adamant "yes."
Earlier this year, the government gave a one-year reprieve for testing and certification requirements for some children's products. And Washington lawmakers withdrew state standards that would have required even stricter requirements. The state law, Baillie said, would have put her shop out of business.
Today, toy manufacturers need to comply with the standards but, with exceptions, don't need to test and certify their products until August at the earliest. The federal law has rolling compliance dates for lead and phthalates requirements.
The U.S. law was introduced after a wave of recalled toxic toys -- many from China -- surfaced in late 2007. Toy manufacturers and shop owners like Baillie say the law, while well intentioned, was put together poorly.
"What concerns me about this law is all the unintended consequences," she said.
Baillie blames large toy manufacturers, like Mattel, for poor quality control. Small manufacturers, who already make toys free of lead and phthlates, will be overwhelmed with the cost of testing and certifying their products, Baillie said. Several German toy manufacturers already have pulled their products from the U.S. market even though their toys comply with stricter European regulations because they can't afford the added certification costs, she said.
"The law is punishing the ones who make the safe toys," Baillie said.
Small manufacturers of toys and children's clothing, along with shop owners around the country, have banded together in opposition to the law, holding a rally in Washington, D.C., on April 1. Last week, two U.S. congressmen drafted a bill that would clarify some of the implications of the original Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Industry groups like the Toy Industry Association are urging members to lobby their representatives in Congress to support the legislation.
"The industry needs to call upon Congress to recognize that the CPSIA needs to be revisited immediately," Carter Keithley, president of the Toy Industry Association, said in a statement. "The implementation of the law should be delayed until oversight hearings can be held and the law can be fixed."
Baillie said she's already seen the cost of toys rise as manufacturers gear up for certifying the products. Unless the law is reworked, Baillie fears consumers will see higher prices and less selection.
"We're going to lose a lot of great quality toys," Baillie said.
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