US House of Rep's Passes New Bill for Toy Safety Regulation

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On Wednesday, the United States House of Representatives voted 407-0 in favor of a new bill regarding toy safety. The bill was created due to the lead fiasco, compliments of Mattel and other toy makers. Here's some of the highlights of the story posted at Yahoo.com.

"The House's bill would require a gradual reduction of lead content in children's products, with the limit going down to 100 parts per million effective four years after enactment."

Stricter regulations may cause toys in general to go up in price as it will be the corporations and factories that will have to monitor the products more closely.

"It would also require manufacturers to include tracking labels on products to speed recalls of toys for children aged 12 and younger, while mandating independent safety testing of toys by labs accredited by the CPSC."

Again, more costs. Transformers are marketed to the 5-12 age range. Also, the tracking labels on products does not state whether the labels will be just on the packaging of the products. Since most people do not keep their boxes, could we see additional markings showing up on the toys themselves?

"The bill would steadily increase the CPSC's budget to $100 million by fiscal 2011. Plus, it would raise penalties for failing to cooperate with the CPSC to $10 million from the current $1.25 million, while giving the beleaguered agency $20 million to modernize its toy-testing laboratory."

Currently, the Senate is also looking into the bill as well. We'll keep you posted regarding this bill as it moves from the Senate to the White House.

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