CPSC another link

http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/legislating_montana_small_businesses_out_of_business/7197/

The whole article is at the above link. Here are a few excerpts.

While you might think that small business minded representatives from Montana would be wiser about this than their urban counterparts, you'd be wrong. Sens. Baucus and Tester both voted in favor of the House/Senate compromise version HR 4040 (the bill that became the CPSIA), and Rep. Rehberg voted yes on the House version HR4040. Frankly, I have to wonder if anyone in Congress even considers the impact of laws on small businesses and home businesses. Why? The combined House and Senate votes on this legislation yielded only three "No" votes. Three. More people failed to vote on this measure, including Senators Obama, McCain and Clinton, than voted against it. Want details? The House vote is here, the final Senate vote is here.The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), passed on July 31 2008 and signed into law by President Bush on August 14 2008, makes it illegal to manufacture or sell toys, clothing and other items for children that do not meet the act's testing and labeling requirements. Even better, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has been given an additional $620 million so they can enforce this law, whose details were largely left up to the commission.

Here are a few examples of businesses that will be impacted by the CPSIA, otherwise known as "reasons to care:"
~If you're like Mrs. Santa, who makes wooden toys in her workshop in Evergreen, you get to pay $4,000 per toy to a testing lab to assure compliance with the CPSIA.
~If you make the classic gray sock monkeys and sell them at Depot Park during the Hockaday's big craft event, during Columbia Falls Heritage Days or during the litany of events in downtown Whitefish - you have three choices: sell them in violation of the law, close up shop or pay the fee to have your items tested. Each SKU = $4000, most likely. If you're running the Hockaday, your biggest fundraiser of the year is at least partially threatened by this act.
~If you own a small toy store, have items that cater to kids, or you sell antique toys, like Station 8 in Columbia Falls, or the Imagination Station in Whitefish – you have to pay to test every toy you import from Europe, or make sure that it has been tested (CPSIA-compliant items are labeled as such). Note that the requirements for toys imported from Europe exist despite the fact that for years Europe has had tougher toy safety standards than ours.
~If you buy and sell science kits for homeschoolers, the CPSIA applies to you as well.
~If you're a school who buys such kits, ditto your suppliers.
~Every large U.S. toy manufacturer who actually *does* still manufacture items here at home - and had nothing to do with the toy recalls from 2007 - still has to pay to test their toys. Actually, I'm ok with that one.
~If you enjoy shopping for your kids at craft fairs, online at Etsy.com or eBay, or you like buying used toys and clothing - sales of items that do not conform to CPSIA regulations and that have not been tested will be illegal to sell - thus reducing your ability to choose.
~If you sell items for kids on eBay, all your existing untested or non-compliant inventory has to be gone by February 10, 2009 or it cannot be sold.
Retailers, you too can be held liable for selling any handmade toys or children's items that are not tested by a CPSIA-compliant lab and labeled per the CPSIA.