We can still buy/sell homemade!

It looks like people who sell handmade goods on a small-scale basis are safe from the new laws spearheaded by the CPSC.

I knew the Homeschool Legal Defense Association had taken this on at the request of their clients, but I didn't yet realize that some changes had been made. Thanks to Lea at Farmhouse Blessings for letting me know.

Although you can find the HSLDA's full report here, I am leaving you with an excerpt from that report.


Last Friday, the CPSC declared numerous changes in their regulations, including the following exemptions that correspond with requests made by HSLDA in our meeting with Commissioner Moore:

An exemption for certain natural materials such as wood, cotton, wool, and certain metals and alloys that rarely contain lead;

An exemption for ordinary children's books printed after 1985;*

An exemption for textiles, dyed or undyed (not including leather, vinyl, or PVC) and non-metallic thread and trim used in children's apparel and other fabric products, such as baby blankets.

* HSLDA asked for an exemption for all books. Commissioner Moore argues, however, that the ink in books prior to the 1980s did contain lead.1

Prosecution under the law, the CPSC announced, will ensue only if “someone had actual knowledge that one of these children’s products contained more than 600 ppm lead or continued to make, import, distribute or sell such a product after being put on notice.”2 In fact, according to Commissioner Moore, manufacturers will not be prosecuted for violating the law during the one-year postponement of testing requirements (lasting till February 10, 2010), unless their products actually cause an injury or have the potential to hurt someone.3 Moore further assured HSLDA that small businesses, in particular, will have nothing to worry about. “Historically, we haven’t gone after these kinds of businesses,” he told HSLDA, “not cottage industries.”