Playing It Safe

Finding safe toys to carry is your store is no longer child's play. Just over a year ago the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) rolled out regulations limiting the amount of lead allowed in children's products to less than half what had been previously allowed. The new rules also require that there be tracking labels to assist in recalls, and larger warning information about choking hazards on items intended to small children.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) regulations have cost the gift industry huge amounts of money, as all toys have to be tested, and products that no longer met government standards discarded. You may want to check your shelves for older merchandise that is no longer considered legal to sell for children. Check with local authorities about safe ways to dispose of these items.

Buying from reputable vendors is the safest way to make sure that anything that you sell as a toy meets the current standards. Ask your suppliers for information about compliance. All major toy vendors now offer this, usually on their web site and in their printed materials.

There are many products that cross over from the adult world to the juvenile market. We buy cute little piggy banks, for example, from a major gift supplier. When we checked with them to find out whether these little guys met current toy safety standards, we were told that they did not. This meant that we will not stock them in our kids area -- although they hardly look like an "adult" item.

Another major concern is toys that don't get tested. If you make items for children, or carry locally made toys, you will want to make sure that the materials all meet the requirements. This is not so easy to do, and has created problems for craftspeople trying to compete with mass-market toys. The Handmade Toy Alliance has put together a helpful testing flow chart dealing with compliance with CPSIA, and it is available under Resources on their web site.

Although it is unlikely that your shop will be targeted for lack of compliance, the civil penalties are stiff -- up to $100,000 per violation. Of course we all want to make sure that the toys we carry are safe for the sake of our customers, not just to meet the federal standards. These regulations are a reminder that special vigilance is necessary when we sell any products intended for children.