Way to go Government! This is Olivia’s explanation of the situation:
“The government wants to tell Mom that she’s not allowed to sew. They made a mistake in their law and Mom needs to write them a letter so that they will let her sew again.”
The new law, H.R.4040, to go into effect on February 10th will make it so that I will not be able to sell my hand made clothes, dolls and slings without submitting each batch (every item being individual means each item will be a batch) for 3rd party lead and phylate testing. I agree that these items should not be in toys and clothing. That’s one of the reasons that I prefer to buy handmade and wooden toys. The other reason being my support for small and cottage businesses like my own. But H.R.4040 will place such stringent requirements on these businesses making it almost impossible to operate.You can find out more about this law and its possible repercussions here.
I’ve already contacted my Congress Person and Senator requesting a provision in the law to protect small businesses. Sherrod Brown (D- OH) has replied, though not very satisfactorily. If anyone is interested in his response leave a comment and I can email it to you. My biggest frustration is that no one is offering a step by step solution for how to bring my goods into compliance with the law. As it is right now I have to decide whether I’m going to quit selling slings and children’s materials or if I’m going to be a quality-goods bootlegger. Please contact your respective elected officials and emphasize the need for a simple way for small and cottage businesses to comply with the law.
Like I said, way to go Government! Way to make criminals out of people just trying to make their own way.
I heard about this situation yesterday, but it didn’t even occur to me how this would effect you and others with similarly great products! I’m very interested in hearing the response you got. And I really just looked at your blog today because I’m so interested in your t-shirt bags. I know you explained how to make them, but will you be making any to sell??
I will email you Sherrod’s response and I’m planning on putting 3 or 4 bags in the shop by the end of this week.
The other thing you can do is pray for this decision to be made wisely. I’m not sure what I’m going to do if it goes into effect as is.