Everyone in the industry should have heard about this by now.
Some provisions in this law were made unfair to domestic “niche” producers.
But take a more typical case, our company, for example. Cardona Toys manufactures, designs and exports plush toys, we have to deal with compliance all the time. Any effort to strengthen the rules in the US has to be applauded. Newest EU directive is even tougher, and this is good too. Other countries have their own rules, at times a bit overwhelming. When we send products to Russia, every single shipment gets a medical certificate. In general, though, regulation is good for everyone, because the industry obviously cannot regulate itself. These measures lead to better innovative materials that are safer to kids. If a small plush toy maker in the US (there are almost none left) uses awful material, shouldn’t he be accountable too?
However, the lawmakers lumped absolutely everybody together, and that was plainly not smart nor too fair, hence the obvious outrage in this letter.
Cheers from http://www.cardonatoys.com
PS We have made a nice and compact toy safety page with appropriate links. Feel free to check. Also toy Industry Association is a good place to catch up with the US legislation and toy safety news.