[SPAM] US Energy and Commerce Committee to US Artisans: Drop Dead

[Guest guest]

This is extremely upsetting. I have been working hard on trying to develop my

own line of a few natural bath/body product. Sounds as if someone is trying to

make it look like they are fixing the problem, but all it is doing is squashing

the little guy, the ones (like us) that are actually making a difference, by

producing high quality products lovingly, carefully, without compromise. All

that boils down to is more business for the big pigs. I am so upset. Does this

mean my stuff will be illegal in a month????

Lori

-

anyaperfumer

Tuesday, January 20, 2009 8:01 PM

[sPAM] US Energy and Commerce Committee to US

Artisans: Drop Dead

 

 

Got your attention? Too bad we all weren't paying attention to the US

Energy and Commerce Committee.

 

This Special Notice is being sent to you by me, Anya, group moderator

and President of the Natural Perfumers Guild, because it is very

disturbing how one Committee in the US Government is aiming to shut

down the independent American Artisan and I need to get the word out.

Please pass this on to any artisan associations you know and have them

contact me. Read on to find out why:

 

Sell handmade toys, children's clothing or any child-oriented item in

your shop?

Have some handmade children's toys, clothing or bath or body product

you want to donate to a shelter?

Perhaps you want to give some handmade cradle or bassinet away to your

best friend.

 

Forget it.

 

Come February 10th, you have to:

 

Empty your shop of the toys, forget about donations, and don't give

them away - you might as well send them to the dump. The landfills

across America should be full of handmade children's products in the

coming months.

 

Why?

 

The U.S. Energy and Commerce Committee, the same group that attempted

to pass the small-business-killing FDA Globalization Act last year,

passed the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act in August.

Quietly, sneakily, this bill was passed into law and is just now

becoming evident for what it is - the death knell for any handmade

artisan product for children.

 

We're in the early stages of launching a website that will be the home

of artisan associations united to fight this Draconian Consumer

Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) and the coming revival of the

FDA Globalization Act. Membership will be free, and open to all

American artisan associations, bringing under our umbrella those who

craft bread, chocolate, beer, toys, clothing, wine, bath and body

products, cheese - well, you get the idea. I believe we have some

innovative and powerful campaigns planned, and I will post more here

when we move forward.

 

We have both a PR and legislative contact campaign planned for both

the short term and long term goals - to fight this committee, and any

other that attempts to put small businesses into bankruptcy. The CPSIA

will be a hard battle, since it's already law. Just think about it -

no more crocheted hats from the local store for your baby, no more

wooden toys from the woodmaker on that country road. They'll be

outlawed February 10, 2009, and any business selling them will be

closed down.

 

It's a horrifying state of Big Brother and we have to take this into

our own hands at a grassroots level and organize and fight.

 

Here's some more information, originally published by Forbes magazine.

 

January 16 -- " Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act is now shaping

up as a calamity for businesses and an epic failure of regulation "

 

" Congress passed CPSIA in a frenzy of self-congratulation following

last year's overblown panic over Chinese toys with lead paint.

Washington's consumer and environmentalist lobbies used the occasion

to tack on some other long-sought legislative goals, including a ban

on phthalates used to soften plastic.

 

" A group called Handmade Toy Alliance is calling attention to the

law's burdens in that area. Booksellers are mobilizing. Yet prominent

consumer groups have continued to defend even the law's more extreme

applications, and their spokespersons are dismissive of public

outrage. 'I haven't heard a single legitimate concern yet,' Public

Citizen's David Arkush wrote last month.

 

" Instead they must put a sample item from each lot of goods through

testing after complete assembly, and the testing must be applied to

each component. For a given hand-knitted sweater, for example, one

might have to pay not just, say, $150 for the first test, but added-on

charges for each component beyond the first: a button or snap, yarn of

a second color, a care label, maybe a ribbon or stitching--with each

color of stitching thread having to be tested separately.

 

" Suddenly the bill is more like $1,000--and that's just to test the

one style and size. The same sweater in a larger size, or with a

different button or clasp, would need a new round of tests--not just

on the button or clasp, but on the whole garment. The maker of a kids'

telescope (with no suspected problems) was quoted a $24,000 testing

estimate, on a product with only $32,000 in annual sales. "

 

-----------

 

End of the Forbes excerpt. Any members of artisan associations reading

this, please contact me via the form on my website.

 

I've written extensively in the past about the business-killing

measures that IFRA, the EU and Global Harmonization pose to the

Natural Perfumers Guild and small businesses that produce bath and

body products. The new organization will work to push back the rising

tide of government regulations that threaten to destroy our small,

independent businesses.

 

Perfumes

http://anyasagarden.com

Online perfume course starts March 6, 2009

http://anyasgarden.com/classes.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Not in a month, Lori, but it is coming. Children's stuff will be

affected on Feb. 10. That's a separate issue from the Globalization

fees that will be assessed against us.

 

If you belong to an association or organization for your business, let

them know about this and contact me. We're getting a

together of volunteers that will work a grassroots effort to combat

these terrible acts of legislation.

 

Perfumes

Glorious and Rare Organic White Rose Hydrosol

http://anyasagarden.com/store.htm

Online perfume course starts March 6, 2009

http://anyasgarden.com/classes.htm

 

, " Lori VanScoter "

<lvanscoter wrote:

>

> This is extremely upsetting. I have been working hard on trying to

develop my own line of a few natural bath/body product. Sounds as if

someone is trying to make it look like they are fixing the problem,

but all it is doing is squashing the little guy, the ones (like us)

that are actually making a difference, by producing high quality

products lovingly, carefully, without compromise. All that boils down

to is more business for the big pigs. I am so upset. Does this mean

my stuff will be illegal in a month????

> Lori