Overlawyered has a long list of links for people talking and reporting on the impact of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which went into effect this week. Even though some of this may be overreaction, congress and the commission are responsible for the confusion. Here’s part of a press release from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, issued last month. I hope this is accurate, not some kind of doublespeak:

The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children’s products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.

The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.

More “guidance” from the commission is here.

Sherry blogs about the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act, saying she knows of a used bookstore trashing all of it’s children’s books out of fear of this Improvement Act. I thought second-hand stores, thrift, used, and libraries, were exempt from this act, but even if that’s true, some store owners are not comforted by it.

The CPSC has, as of last week, made an exception for “ordinary children’s books printed after 1985.” Supposedly, some inks used before 1985 may have contained some lead. (However, the eight, nine, or ten year old reading a copy of Winnie the Pooh printed before 1985 would have to eat the book to get get any level of lead into their system. My four to twelve year olds don’t eat books. Do yours?) Right now, the bookstore where my daughter works is getting around the law by reclassifying their children’s books printed before 1985 as “vintage books” for adult collectors. Of course, this strategy is just that, a way of circumventing the law. That 1983 copy of Winnie the Pooh isn’t really vintage or collectible; it also isn’t dangerous to children.

Apparently, youth dirt bikes and ATVS are illegal to sell under the same act. Is the government trying to put small companies and many retailers out of business? It sure seems to be. Do we hate congress enough to rally for mandatory six-month vacations now? The less time they spend in Washington, the better we’ll be.

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association is hosting a new book convention, the Christian Book Expo Dallas 2009. The EPCA states, “This event, a first for ECPA and the first Christian book fair of its type, will bring together publishers, authors and consumers. ECPA is holding this event to reach a critical demographic – anybody making or influencing book buying decisions.”

I suppose that could be more broadly defined–can’t think of how at the moment. The event is affordable ($50 for three days) and open to the public.

The ECPA president says, “We are trying to build future retail sales. We believe these influential Christians will experience these authors and their message and take that message back to their friends and church families and in turn refer them to their local retailer. Our goal is for awareness and exposure.”

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), signed into law last August, calls for third party lead testing of all products for children under age 12. According to reporter Alissa Harris, “On February 10, . . . all products for children under 12 — books, games, toys, sports equipment, furniture, clothes, DVDs, and just about every other conceivable children’s gadget and gewgaw — must be tested for lead, and fall below a new 600 part-per-million limit, or face the landfill. Thanks to a September 12 memo from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the lead limit applies not only to new products, but also to inventory already on store shelves.”

Testing for each item can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, and somehow each retailer is responsible for its current stock–no overlap from certified publishers. Libraries appear to be on the hook for certifying that their children’s books are lead-free, even if the process for making the books uses no lead. From the same article in The Phoenix:

Historically, books have been considered more dangerous to read than to eat. Regardless, a memo from the CPSC, issued the day before Christmas Eve, explicitly quashed any hope that books might escape the new law. To make matters worse, even publishers that have already had their products tested for lead will be forced to retest. In the same memo, existing test results based on “soluble lead” — a measure of whether lead will migrate out of a product — were rejected by the CPSC because they did not measure “total lead content.”

The CPSC has not issued any ruling on whether libraries, schools, and other institutions that loan — rather than sell — books will be subject to the law. Without such clear guidance, says Adler, schools and libraries should assume they have to comply.

It appears thrift stores and other second-hand shops will be exempt, so maybe libraries will be spared as well. The safety act is intended to stop poor quality imported toys, like those recalled several times in the last couple years. How can the Feds follow through with this gnat-straining law and actually put several booksellers, educational material retailers, and toy-makers out of business? If I’ve read the news aright, they won’t force anyone to close down. They will only threaten to sue them into the ground if one of their products has a lead problem. That’s modern day mercy for you.