Toy Safety Act postponed

flayrah · Post by **flayrah** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:18 pm

In case this hasn't been posted, the toy Safety Act has been stayed (postponed) until some undetermined date. This is the law set to go into effect this month that would require safety and health testing for all toys.

pokeyjtc · Post by **pokeyjtc** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:42 pm

Thank goodness. Somebody finally got a clue as to how ridiculous this act is. Hopefully, it will never be implemented and just fade away.

Post by **aferguson** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:32 pm

good news....i bet a lot of companies have already spent a fortune getting their upcoming toys tested, however. At least we know the older toys can still be sold with impunity...and hopefully at the very least, the law gets a rethink before it does come to pass.

No politics.

Charlemagne · Post by **Charlemagne** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:44 pm

Finally, they came to their senses and did something smart for a change.

Dauntless · Post by **Dauntless** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:30 pm

Yay...can I sell all my toys and empty that garage of mine now? (except my XD)

Whew!

Phaid · Post by **Phaid** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:13 pm

Why is this good, again?

Tambo · Post by **Tambo** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:46 pm

from this article:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/04/news/ec ... /index.htm

The National Retail Federation (NRF), the largest trade group for the retailers, maintains that the CPSC's ruling to delay testing has "left its members in a state of confusion."

"There are billions of dollars of children's products sitting on [store] shelves," said Craig Shearman, vice president for government affairs with the NRF. "If they decide not to pull products for testing, there's a fear of liability if a product did not meet next week's compliance deadline."

Shearman said the stay on testing doesn't preempt a consumer rights group or state attorney general from doing their own random testing on products sold in stores.

If those products are found to violate the new safety standards, then merchants and manufacturer are likely to incur serious penalties under CPSIA.

Shearman said the most "conservative" estimate of the impact of next week's deadline is that retailers will remove a lot of product from shelves by Tuesday, and much of it will be destroyed.

"This could leave plenty of store shelves bare as of Tuesday," he said.

Dauntless · Post by **Dauntless** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:57 pm

Is this maybe the reason the shelves at Walmart are bare?
Is everyone in a holding pattern?

Tambo · Post by **Tambo** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:00 pm

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/f ... crambling/

Hasbro Inc. says its products have been in line with the tightened regulations for several years, and major retailers such as Toys R Us say they already meet the new regulations.

“We believe we will be fully compliant when the new law goes into effect tomorrow,” said Toys R Us spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. also said they would be compliant with the new regulations by today. They said they had been working with vendors to ensure toys met the rules but declined to say whether or when they had pulled any toys off their shelves.

But small retailers are left scratching their heads and, for products that can’t immediately be verified, using their best judgment of what to take off their shelves.

Dauntless · Post by **Dauntless** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:08 pm

Well that's great

for the cheezeball GI Joe vehicle collectors out there.

Hasbro's stock has been doing well lately.

Soon all we will see is Hasbro and Mattel toys.
Heck that's probably why that's pretty much all I'm seeing at Walmart now.

Makes you wonder who was pushing for this in the first place.

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:46 pm

all the larger toys companies would have had their toys tested long ago as the deadline wasn't postponed til quite recently.

In fact, i can't see many toy companies who would not have tested their items. Tiny import toys, or craft items probably have not been tested but that is a relatively minor amount of the toys sold.

I can't see this having any affect on WM, TRU etc shelves.

Apparently it is having an effect on goodwills and other thrift places as they are no longer accepting toys for donation because of this new law. See the thread in off topic.

This law clearly needs a rethink and revision but with all the troubles in the economy right now it's going to take a major back seat.

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:50 pm

Being a lawyer, Jason would probably have some good insights on this law. It would be interesting to have his comments.

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:56 pm

aferguson wrote:Being a lawyer, Jason would probably have some good insights on this law. It would be interesting to have his comments.

ditto