CPSIA Threatens Kelly Neylan’s Organic Baby Clothing Business

[ This is the first of a series of posts by Susan Maphis covering the impact of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). For more information about the CPSIA, read Susan's previous article: The End Of Handmade and sign up for her CPSIA Alerts Mailing List ]

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), set to go into effect on February 10, 2009, has the potential to impact many small businesses sell children’s items. One such business is BuddhiWear, an organic clothing company that stresses empowerment for the entire family through yoga.

This socially conscious company prides itself on purchasing from sweatshop-free manufacturers and using only environmentally-friendly dyes. For every item of clothing it sells, BuddhiWear plants a tree. Yet, despite all of these earth-friendly efforts, this business is threatened by the enactment of the CPSIA.

Kelly Neylan, of BuddhiWear.com, says that the law was written hastily without input from manufacturers and businesses that would be affected. Such input, she feels, could have helped lawmakers draft a bill that lessened the impact on business while still protecting consumer safety.

Neylan’s company currently sells organic clothing for women, men, and children. “If the law is not modified there is a good chance that I will have to drop my entire baby and children’s line because of the expense of testing,” she says. “This is sad since I only use organic products and water based inks in my garments.”

She notes that, as of now, raw, organic cotton is excluded from the law, but if the cotton is modified in any way, it must be tested as of February 10, 2009. “I really do not think that the law makers realized the impact of this law,” she adds.

[ For more information about the CPSIA, read Susan's previous article: The End Of Handmade]