Small toymakers continue to complain about the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, passed into law after millions of lead-laden and other hazardous toys from Mattel and others but made in China washed onto our shores in waves in 2007 and 2008. The innumerable dangerous toy recalls galvanized decades of previously unsuccessful efforts to restore the tiny, embattled CPSC's ability to protect the public from the 15,000 separate hazards it regulates (including toys). Yet, as our colleague Nancy Cowles of Kids In Danger told Leslie Wayne of the New York Times for the story Burden of Safety Law Imperils Small Toymakers, powerful multi-national toy companies are using the ma-and-pa firms as cover in their efforts to weaken the law:

“These groups are not above using the small crafters to reopen the legislation and get the changes they want.” Ms. Cowles also said parents needed to be assured that their children’s toys were safe, regardless of who made or sold them. “From a product safety standpoint, it doesn’t make a difference whether the toy comes from a local store or a national chain,” said Ms. Cowles. “A child doesn’t know the difference and parents have the right to expect a safe product.”