What is CPSIA and April Michelle Designs

Question: What Is CPSIA?

Answer: The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) was passed by U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Bush on Aug. 14, 2008. CPSIA is designed to allow The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to better regulate the safety of products made and imported for sale in the U.S. CPSIA also contains regulations that are intended to make products for children under age 12 safer by requiring manufacturers and importers to show that these products do not have harmful levels of lead and phthalates.

Nearly every product intended for children under age 12 that will be sold in the U.S. is affected by CPSIA. This can include used and vintage products. The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) will allow thrift stores to dodge lead testing on their current inventories, but still highly recommends that they not sell products that are likely to contain high levels of lead, and still maintains that selling those products is not legal per CPSIA. From About.com

What is the future of AprilMichelleDesigns??
At first I thought, is AprilMichelleDesigns.com forced to close, forced to stop creating and selling 100% USA and hand made items? Now, this question has been answered!!!! On January 30th, the CPSC released a "Stay of Enforcement", protected Small Business Women ~ Like ME!! Here is a snippet of the wording from the "Stay of Enforcement"

The stay of enforcement provides some temporary, limited relief to the crafters, children’s garment manufacturers and toy makers who had been subject to the testing and certification required under the CPSIA. These businesses will not need to issue certificates based on testing of their products until additional decisions are issued by the Commission. However, all businesses, including, but not limited to, handmade toy and apparel makers, crafters and home-based small businesses, must still be sure that their products conform to all safety standards and similar requirements, including the lead and phthalates provisions of the CPSIA.

So, we will proceed with business as usual and continue adding products to complete our online store. As a Mother of two, it is very important to me to create and sell products which I would give to my own children. Therefore, we will continue to maintain these values and only purchase supplies from manufactures and vendors who have passing certificates and are fully compliant with the CPSIA minimums/guidelines. We will continue to make the safest products possible.

Thoughts by your designer... Michelle
Wow, this new law really hit me in the gut. I wanted to crawl and hide for awhile. My wonderful vision of creating hair bows and other hair accessories, creative burp cloths and children's clothing... Well, this dream was crushed. After a day or two of pondering about the future, I decided to stand up and speak up to the lawmakers. Now, let me start by stating, that I am 150% behind creating laws and guidelines to keep our children safe from toxic toys. I personally do not want to walk into a store and think, "hmm... where was this toy made or is this a toxic toy". However, it appears that big government did not 'think' about all the hundreds of thousand small business woman, who would be out of business and forced into the unemployment line - due to the broad wording of this law. Many of these women are stay-at-home-Mom's, small retail boutique owners, retired Grandmother's or handicap women who can not work outside the home and provide an additional income to help support their families. So, I joined the thousands of the "Mommy Bloggers" and started contacting our Senators, Congressmen, News Media, every source that would listen and we have been granted a one year reprieve. The CPSC will take this time to clarify the law and create the correct wording so the 'big business importers' are not able to find loop holes.

Did you know???:
Did you know - The law was so widely written that technically, I would not be legally 'permitted' to make clothing for my own children, much less sell to the open public.

Did you know - Prior to the "Stay of Enforcement", in order for AprilMichelleDesigns to stay in business, we would need to test our products for lead content, even though we have passing certificates from all the suppliers - stating that all our purchased supplies are 100$ compliant to the law.

Did you know - If we and others like us are forced to test our products for lead content, the prices of our products will sky-rocket. For example, a simple $8.00 headband, would now cost over $1,000. Our largest boutique hair bow, which cost $19.99 now - will cost approximately $1,000.

Help us continue to keep our voice loud!! Help us continue making beautiful unique items for your precious little dreamers!!
Thank you!