New law affecting children's resale shops & thrift stores -- what it is and what you can do about it!

[ktslittlefaith]

Dear Parents:

 

There is a VERY important law that will be in effect beginning February 6, 2009 which will affect all of us that frequently purchase affordable children's items through the Three Bags Full sale, Goodwill stores, Thrift Stores, Re-Sale stores, yard sales, church sales and even internet sales.

 

The CPSIA law, written and passed in August of 2008, will make it illegal to sell ANY item for children aged 12 and under that has not been third party tested specifically for lead.  This poorly written law is RETROACTIVE, which  means that beginning February 6, 2009 it will be illegal to sell anything for children, unless it has been approved through the third party testing.

 

How does this affect you?

It will be illegal for Goodwill, Thrift Stores, Consignment Stores, Consignment Sales (such as ours), Re-Sale Stores, yard sales, church sales, internet sales and more to sell anything for children that hasn't been tested.

 

You will no longer have venues to buy inexpensive items for your children. You will no longer have avenues of selling your own items for others to buy.

 

In an already struggling economy, an entire sector of small businesses will be out of business; an entire part of our economy will no longer exist; it will be illegal for you to do anything but put your kids items in a landfill.

 

What can you do?

It is imperative that we act now. Business owners from around the country are working diligently to get this law re-written. Congress convened today and is setting their agenda in the next few days. This law needs to be re-written before it takes effect on February 6, 2009.

 

Please inform yourself about this law. Please contact your local congressmen/women and urge them to educate themselves about this law and to re-write the law. I have provided several resources at the bottom of this email.  It is important to let them know the unintentional consequences of this law and how it will affect you and your communities. Congress will need to act within the next two weeks in order to modify this law before it takes effect February 10.

 

In addition, the author of this bill, Mark Pryor a democratic senator from Arkansas and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Consumer Affairs, has been contacted and evidently was "unaware" of the interpretation of this law in regards to being retroactive. I have also included his contact information below. Please let him know of your concern.

 

The LA Times recently had an article regarding this new law:  http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story 

 

Thank you for taking time to read this and to educate yourselves. It is imperative we act immediately, and I encourage you to not only email but also call your local congressmen due to the urgency and nature of this law.  To learn more about this law, just enter "CPSIA" in your faovrite search engine. 

We are confident that this law will be re-written, or that the Regulatory Flexibility Act will enable the industry to stay afloat, and we are moving forward with our plans for the Spring 2009 sale season as scheduled. However, those interested in seeing this law re-written need to act now.

 

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

DeAnn Nightingale, sale organizer

 

Important Resources:

1) Mark Pryor, author of the CPSIA bill, Democratic Senator and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Consumer Affairs:  202-224-2353

 

2) https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml to find your Representative.  (If you need to locate your full zip, follow this link: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp

 

3) http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm to find your Senator

 

4) To contact the CPSC directly, contact Julie Vallese business phone: [phone]    fax:  [phone]

 

5) To learn more about the Regulatory Flexibility Act visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_Flexibility_Act