Burden of Safety Law Hurts Small Toymakers and Consumers

[oladub]

The 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act was passed to protect us and, no doubt, to promote our general welfare. It has worked out very well for large toymakers such as Mattel while running their smaller competitors out of business. Even Exxon supported this bill.

“Thrift shops and used-toy stores have also joined the fight. Thrift stores say they have had to clear their stores of old toys and children’s clothes out of concern that some items might not be safe.�

““It’s been devastating for us,� said Kitty Boyce, owner of the Kid’s Closet in Rochester, Ill., who has emptied her shop of much of her children’s merchandise and is selling adult items instead. “For us, there will be no bottom line this year.��

“Adele R. Meyer, executive director of the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops, based in St. Clair Shores, Mich., said much of the new law made little sense. “People are taking away all items for children 12 and under,’ she said.�
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/bu...2&ref=business

Our government would rather have toddlers gnawing on Chinese plastic toys imported from China made of the finest Exxon resins than wooden toys such as those Mr. Woods of Maine makes or the inexpensive used ones found at second-hand shops.

Cash for toy clunkers anyone?
http://www.ogunquitwoodentoy.com/toys_catalog.htm

Government approved Mattel toy

[Sstashmoo]

Lobbyists and the politicians who accept bribes. They are a cancer.

[ccbatson]

Protect the rights of the seller and buyer...the rest is open to corruption.

[rb336]

The correct title should be:

"Screw the kids who might get sick, injured or killed - we can't make enough money!"

[Lorax]

Same holds true for teflon pans whether new or found in thrift stores- all of them are carcinogenic.

Throw in aluminum pots and pans- a danger when heated.

[oladub]

The correct title should be:

"Screw the kids who might get sick, injured or killed - we can't make enough money!"

Yes, rb, the world is full of dangers.If the government would only run the thrift stores and small American producers out of business while importing more Chinese toys for our children to chew on, then they would be safer. Their parents might be more likely to be out of work and not have any spare money to buy toys anyway but profits would be guaranteed at Mattel and Exxon Chemicals. If the parents are poor, they are already having to pay more for scarcer second hand cars so maybe they can't afford to get to work anyway since you sent their jobs to Asia.

[rb336]

in other words, ola, as long as someone is making money and has a job, go ahead and sell crap that maims children. lovely. so how many dead kids is your job worth?

[gibran]

left without regulations people get sick and hurt..sorry..maybe those who manufacture things with small pieces should exempt from lawsuits based on choking hazards also..If you sell something and it can cause harm, who should be responsible? Or maybe a warning on homemade materials...dangerous if wheel falls off and chokes your baby... it seems that regualtions by the government is needed to proetct us from goods from China and ma and paw too. Sorry, there's a reason for some regulations..when left off the companies wouldnt police themselves.

[oladub]

in other words, ola, as long as someone is making money and has a job, go ahead and sell crap that maims children. lovely. so how many dead kids is your job worth?

The money being made with what your are proposing goes overseas. Perhaps if the cost of compliance was more proportional to the size of the enterprise, such a law would be more reasonable. Its odd that you are on the side of the corporate giants that wrote this bill to eliminate their smaller competition. Just how many children do you think this bill will save anyway and based on which numbers? This is largely another corporate effort to get government to require the consumption of unnecessary goods and services. It violates the ability to recycle.

gibran, There are already laws on the books making it possible to sue manufacturers of defective products. How many children died last year from choking on parts of toys as opposed to say chicken bones or things they picked off the ground? We could, of course, legistlate against allowing children to eat anything but ground mush and prevent them from playing outside until they are three years old too - and maybe we should if more kids are dying from other sorts of things they stick in their mouths. My kids ate mud and put everything in their mouth that they could. For the most part, it is the job of parents, not the government, to try to prevent bad things from happening. Maybe you need a warning label on a step-ladder to warn you about gravity but mostly people should use common sense. You do have the option of suing the ladder maker if the label rubs off or its lettering was too small if you fall off.

Attachment 3726
One of my kids caught eating mud. At least he isn't eating his Chinese cement truck. If you have any boys, you will find out that they also stick wires into electrical outlets to see what happens. Most survive.

[Lorax]

This whole discussion would be moot if people would stop going to Walmart.

When the numbers are in for reatilers this holiday season, it should be a real eye-opener.

No one keeps stats on how well charity thrifts are doing, but if the lines out the doors here in Miami are any indication, I'd say they are doing a land-office business.

I understand Michigan has "Red White & Blue" thrift stores now- they have been here in Miami for years, and are run like a major department store.

Sales every day on certain color tags, and people lined up to get in- every day!

Guess the major retailers are overpriced, since I don't see lines outside Macy's, even during sale periods.

[ccbatson]

No...free market forces plus government protections of fair commerce.

[rb336]

The money being made with what your are proposing goes overseas. Perhaps if the cost of compliance was more proportional to the size of the enterprise, such a law would be more reasonable. Its odd that you are on the side of the corporate giants that wrote this bill to eliminate their smaller competition. Just how many children do you think this bill will save anyway and based on which numbers?

one is enough, and toy jobs have been shipped overseas for YEARS - at least since ronnie offered HUGE tax incentives to mattel and others to move to a nice new free-trade zone in the phillipines [[the fishing families who had lived in the village for generations were literally forced out by the military while the men were out on the water, and moved to crappy land and told to start farming. all paid for by your tax dollars. there were more unsavory things going on as well) further movement was from wal-mart insisting that their suppliers move to the lowest labor cost regions.

[ejames01]

I once rude down a 12 foot slide in a wagon. I don't recall if there was a warning not to do that.

The money being made with what your are proposing goes overseas. Perhaps if the cost of compliance was more proportional to the size of the enterprise, such a law would be more reasonable. Its odd that you are on the side of the corporate giants that wrote this bill to eliminate their smaller competition. Just how many children do you think this bill will save anyway and based on which numbers? This is largely another corporate effort to get government to require the consumption of unnecessary goods and services. It violates the ability to recycle.

gibran, There are already laws on the books making it possible to sue manufacturers of defective products. How many children died last year from choking on parts of toys as opposed to say chicken bones or things they picked off the ground? We could, of course, legistlate against allowing children to eat anything but ground mush and prevent them from playing outside until they are three years old too - and maybe we should if more kids are dying from other sorts of things they stick in their mouths. My kids ate mud and put everything in their mouth that they could. For the most part, it is the job of parents, not the government, to try to prevent bad things from happening. Maybe you need a warning label on a step-ladder to warn you about gravity but mostly people should use common sense. You do have the option of suing the ladder maker if the label rubs off or its lettering was too small if you fall off.

Attachment 3726
One of my kids caught eating mud. At least he isn't eating his Chinese cement truck. If you have any boys, you will find out that they also stick wires into electrical outlets to see what happens. Most survive.

[ccbatson]

What is a tax incentive? Stealing less of somebody else's wealth. When said wealth is stolen in mass, the cost is directly added to the cost for consumers [[a hidden all class tax hike). Get rid of corporate taxes completely and outsourcing will drop...eliminate organized labor as well, and outsourcing will become nearly extinct.

[gibran]

while we ate mud and played with Beebee guns and not shot each others eyes out, this like anything else when left unregulated can lead to deaths..nothing replaces common sense, but sometimes common sense needs a boost..
Toy injuries were responsible for 22 deaths and 220,500 emergency room visits in 2006, according to a report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The report looked at injuries affecting children under 15 and found that most deaths were caused by asphyxiation or collisions associated with riding toys, scooters, toy pegs, and rubber balls

[ccbatson]

Common sense boosted by government regulation...Gibran, you have just unwittingly discovered one of the greatest jokes I have ever heard.

[Sstashmoo]

It's estimated that hundreds of people die every year from falling coconuts, outlaw the trees? No, watch for falling coconuts. If some parents actually watched their kids, they might not eat a Tonka truck.

[gibran]

Maybe you are to young to remember mercy in the fish, or rivers catching fire..common sense is that you don't pollute where you get your drinking water, but sometimes common sense and decency gets in the way of profits...maybe a little lead with your babies painted toys..will convince you that regulations are not the problem...greed and cutting corners is.

[gibran]

gross generalizations....correct me if I am wrong that ingredients and small pieces are ok, as long as you have parents diligently watching their children 24/7? NOT trying to split hairs, but regulations wouldn't be needed if there was corporate responsibility- as Atlas Shrugged in wonderment...we all know how responsible corporations are when left alone...or only after being sued...but cue in the too many frivolous lawsuits crowd...

[oladub]

while we ate mud and played with Beebee guns and not shot each others eyes out, this like anything else when left unregulated can lead to deaths..nothing replaces common sense, but sometimes common sense needs a boost..
Toy injuries were responsible for 22 deaths and 220,500 emergency room visits in 2006, according to a report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The report looked at injuries affecting children under 15 and found that most deaths were caused by asphyxiation or collisions associated with riding toys, scooters, toy pegs, and rubber balls

Your article provided the causes of death for all 22 children. Seven died from choking. Of those, three died from swallowing balls and one died of an uninflated balloon. Others drove their tricycles into swimming pools or in front of a truck or they got hit in the head with a ball; things that weren't so much a problem caused by their toy. Still, 22 is a tiny number compared with 2,000 children who died fron child neglect last year, the 1,200 who drowned, and the 6,500 who died in car accidents. Outlawing balls and balloons would cut have cut the number of suffocations in half before you even put small toymakers and thrift shops out of business. Would you support that too?

[gibran]

look Im not saying that I want the government to regualte our bowel movements,...but what I am expressing is that "sometimes" when left up to their own, corporations d o not police their own products and be responsible citizens when adding toxins into their products [[ie China)...but a label or warning is a reasonable accommodation. While you are correct that it is a small number, Statistics being what they are Qualitatively, any death of a child is noteworthy-especially if it could have been avoided and is statsically significant to their parents.

[Sstashmoo]

Quote: "when adding toxins into their products [[ie China)..."

Well, there's your problem. Us manufacturers know there is a heavy price to pay for negligence. Why pound US manufacturers when the real culprit is on the other side of the planet? US manufacturers, those still in business, are quite keen to avoid anything that would cause litigation. If they aren't they get sued into oblivion. There are checks and balances for us all. For China and the importers [[traitors), there are none. Dump your garbage here, the best we can do is pull it off the shelf.

[rb336]

I think we should be imposing very stiff tariffs on foreign countries that do not meet our safety, child labor, worker safety and environmental standards

[Sstashmoo]

Quote: "I think we should be imposing very stiff tariffs on foreign countries that do not meet our safety, child labor, worker safety and environmental standards"

Oh agreed. Obama said he would too. Just another mouthpiece for lobbyists. Saying whats required to get elected then turn around and do the opposite.

[gibran]

rb that would be a logical answer, however a congress bought and paid for by foreign lobbies and their domestic counterparts..well...If the President had a congress with a back bone he would get more accomplished..