PDA

View Full Version : When will it happen here?



RETIRED
22nd March 2010, 07:20 AM
This also affects a lot of products we make.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/business/smallbusiness/31toys.html

brendan stemp
22nd March 2010, 08:54 AM
Yes, interesting stuff. Let's hope sanity prevails with those in government in US so that any flow on to Australia is also reasonable.

wheelinround
22nd March 2010, 09:01 AM
Isn't this why U-beaut sells Non-Toxic paints and finishes :rolleyes:

In his statement I had to laugh when he says
no child, he said, has ever been hurt by one of his small boats, cars, helicopters or rattles.

Is this because they don't ply with them they are store on shelves to look at ?

I recall my sisters wooden rattle hand made was used to hit many an unsuspecting head:~

Many kids weren't hurt but adults tripping falling stumbling over them were.:U

TTIT
22nd March 2010, 09:07 AM
If it happens here it will destroy our clubs biggest fundraiser - DIY toy kits for budding young chippies to put together - and there's not too much that Oz law makers don't copy off the US :C

wheelinround
22nd March 2010, 09:17 AM
If it happens here it will destroy our clubs biggest fundraiser - DIY toy kits for budding young chippies to put together - and there's not too much that Oz law makers don't copy off the US :C

Vern how could it effect that if they are sold raw :?

TTIT
22nd March 2010, 09:23 AM
Vern how could it effect that if they are sold raw :?I was thinking along the lines of how evil we would be to supply kids with 'lethal weapons' like nails and screws :o or small parts they might choke on :o (if they have mouths big enough to hold a 4x2 :; )

tea lady
22nd March 2010, 09:27 AM
Vern how could it effect that if they are sold raw :?:rolleyes: Our club should prolly stop using chip board in the kits. Although it is in the pencil boxes. :shrug:

I think the hand made food sold in markets had a similar thing happen with food safety laws. But there was something worked out that wasn't so over the top, for small "producers". Australia is a bit better at working out compromises like that.

Waldo
22nd March 2010, 09:51 AM
Sanity won't prevail and soon enough Dudd will see that his idol, whom he worships, has passed a law so Dudd will adopt it as his 'war'. (as Titt has alluded to)

Call me cynical. :shrug:

Ed Reiss
22nd March 2010, 12:18 PM
According to an article in the latest issue of American Woodturner it goes further than just toys.

Here's an excerpt from that article

The unintended consequence may be that small craft businesses and hobby­ists, as makers of handmade items, will need to prove—through elaborate and expensive tests at authorized laborato­ries—that their products are nontoxic and safe for children under the age of 12. The new regulations are scheduled to be implemented in February 2010.
For woodturners, that could cover a host of craft and gift items: pens, tops, baby rattles, buttons, ornaments, jewelry, beads, key rings, bottle stop­pers, tableware—from scoops to honey dippers to salad bowls and serving trays—and an array of objects that the law mentions only as "small parts."
The good news is that turnings made entirely of untreated wood (without paint, surface coatings, or hardware) may be sold or given away without needing certification that they have passed testing for lead or other dangerous substances. However, the law states that any product that has an applied finish or uses certain glues or addi­tives is subject to testing. (Imported or exotic woods are not specified, although many individuals are aller­gic to some species.)

Govt regs are taking away all incentive for the cottage industry :~

TP1
22nd March 2010, 01:25 PM
What they are proposing to do doesn't make sense. It appears that none of the problems are associated with the small volume American toy makers so it ought to follow that they should be exempt from the testing procedures. If the authorities have a problem with that, then they could have the occasional spot check done by the toy police from time to time.

Gil Jones
22nd March 2010, 01:44 PM
I wish y'all good luck on this one...
"Sanity" and "US Government" cannot be used in the same sentence (or thought).
Gil

hughie
22nd March 2010, 08:27 PM
The unintended consequence may be that small craft businesses and hobby#ists, as makers of handmade items, will need to prove—through elaborate and expensive tests at authorized laborato#ries—that their products are nontoxic and safe for children under the age of 12. The new regulations are scheduled to be implemented in February 2010.


Well for the entrepreneurial toy maker I would suggest exceptionally clear images of his or her toy and label it 13years and up.... the parents can decide who to give it to. :U

woodwork wally
22nd March 2010, 08:41 PM
We already have laws here to deal with the leadbased:(( finishes on imported toys and indeed some 15 lines were confiscated from shops in Nov. / December last year purported to be either dangerous with SMALL ITEMS able to be swallowed and /or finishing not suitable ie.Leadbased paint and leadbased castings. To my knowledge these laws have been in force for better than 15 years although I believe they have been enforced more rigorously for the last 6 or 7 years. I do know when I had a country general store about 7 years ago one supplier had a recall of a line that did not conform [made in China ]and a complete 40 foot container load failed and was destroyed .
They had a helluva job getting compensated as toys contract specified that product met Australian standards. Lead based paint dont conform . the govt. department concerned does flying visits to retailers and importers and are merciless in their investigations. We dont need any more regulations:no: . trust this throws some harmonious light on the subject from our point of view Cheers for now www

Sawdust Maker
22nd March 2010, 08:53 PM
Surely any certification can ride on the back of any manufacturers certification.
ie if the benevolent dictator says the shellawax is non toxic then if I use it and certify that I've not used something else then common sense should allow me to rely on that.

We've had statutory toy standards for many many years
and yes you may be subject to them, but the qualifier is that you must be in trade or commerce - and a lot of us very well may be.

joe greiner
22nd March 2010, 10:16 PM
What Gil said.

The really strange thing about it all, is that these rules were made by people who survived the earlier hazardous state of affairs. Children will now be deprived of the opportunity of developing their immune systems, and we can expect even more restrictions as more diseases manifest. There's medical research supporting this theory of too much protection. Innocent allergies are on the rise, too.

I had an uncle who worked as a type founder; breathed lead fumes daily. He had the good sense to drink about two quarts of milk every day, to help leach the poison. He died at the ripe old age of 86. Nobody gets out alive.

Stirring the pot,
Joe

tea lady
22nd March 2010, 10:24 PM
:thank: Maybe toys that could be put in mouths need an ingredient list like food.

Ingredients:
Radiatta pine, shellac.

:cool:

Allen Neighbors
23rd March 2010, 04:44 AM
I wish y'all good luck on this one...
"Sanity" and "US Government" cannot be used in the same sentence (or thought).
Gil
Amen! and Amen!!
Sanity, and US Government, in the same sentence is as ridiculous as 'sanitary landfill'.
The world has been invaded by stupidity, and you just can't fix stupid. Sad it is....:no::no::(:((:no:

Rum Pig
23rd March 2010, 03:37 PM
I understand the need to have laws to protect the consumer but they certainly need to help the manufactures (big and small) as well.
As many have said if you use a product that states it is non toxic you should be able to use that as a certification that what you have made is non toxic. What that could do is make every one list all finishes and glues etc that have been used on each item that way the consumer can look up to see if there is something they need to be concerned about. For an example you make a boat out of Houn pine your tag should read Houn pine, Pva glue, beeswax.
In this day and age it would make sense due to the increasing number of people with strange allergy's you just never know someone could bee allergic to beeswax.
I hope this does not have a flow on effect to us in OZ worth keeping an eye on.

underfoot
23rd March 2010, 04:22 PM
[QUOTE=Rum Pig;1129951] due to the increasing number of people with strange allergy's [/ QUOTE]
noticed a bloke at the local markets who sells cutting boards has a sign that says,
"No peanut oil used in finishing these boards" :rolleyes:

Toymaker Len
24th March 2010, 01:51 AM
Australian regulations are way ahead of the U.S. When I started to make toys in the eighties I almost immediately (within months) received a letter from a govt. dept drawing my attention to regulations relating to toy finishes, to choking hazards, to dangers from nails and screws when the toy eventually breaks, etc. They send me update bulletins every year warning about baby teething rings full of contaminated water or push toys painted with lead paint or projectile toys that can take out an eye. Luckily none of it relates to what we actually produce.
When we started to send toys to Europe during the 90s the toys had to pass stringent testing and be certified before they could be unloaded in Germany.
When we sent a pallet load into the U.S. in 2004 the officials on the docks didn't even look at them. They did however hold them up for two weeks because our transport company hadn't specified that the postage had already been paid. But that is another story.
I think that the small manufacturers in the states will find that they only have to do one test per company or no tests at all but simply certify "maple, walnut oil, beeswax" etc. on their products. After all the guy in the article who says he has eighty products to test goes on to say they are all wood with an oil and wax finish. Anyway the market has pushed small manufacturers toward ultra safe organic green products over the last decade because that is what people want and beside craftsmanship it is something that the global manufacturers can't match.

nalmo
24th March 2010, 06:19 PM
Maybe we should all revert to manually powered pole lathes in order to reduce the amount of carbon released in the creation of the energy to power lathe motors.