PIA Political Action Committee

With your commitment and support, we will have a voice in the future of our industry's political efforts. Watch Janet Green, PIA Chairman of the Board's PrintPAC message or go to www.printpaconline.org

Find out more about Issues that affect you

While the State Legislature is in session, PIM publishes weekly Legislative Reports with timely information on topics that may affect the printing industry. Additional detailed information on federal and state issues can be found at the links below.

Federal Issues

State Issues

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) Stay of Enforcement

The CPSC has granted a one-year stay of enforcement for testing and certification of certain children’s products and toys subject to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The press release and statements by the CPSC’s acting chairman and commissioners can be found here. The CPSC’s full notice can be found here. It is important to understand exactly what the stay does and does not do:

• The stay postpones the requirement for printers to test and certify their products against the new lead and phthalate standards. The new implementation deadline is February 10, 2010. Please refer to Printing Industries of America’s FAQ for more information on the lead and phthalate standards.

• ·The stay provides additional time for the Printing Industries of America to submit further information and test data to support the permanent request for exemption.

• The stay does not postpone the requirement for children’s products to meet the lead and phthalate standards. This means that printers will not be able to legally manufacture or distribute children’s products and/or toys and retailers will not be able to legally sell children’s products unless they comply with the following limits:

• The current regulatory limits for lead are 600 parts per million dropping to 300 parts per million on August 14, 2009. These limits also apply to products in inventory, i.e., products manufactured before February 10, 2009.

• A permanent ban of no more than 0.1% applies to di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or benzyl buty phthalate (BBP). This limit does not apply to products manufactured before February 10, 2009.

• An interim prohibition on children’s toys that can be placed in a child’s mouth or child care articles of no more than 0.1% applies to diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), or di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP). This limit does not apply to products manufactured before February 10, 2009.

• The stay does not prevent retailers, vendors and other print customers from requesting printers to comply with the testing and certification requirements.

• The stay does not postpone or relieve printers from the CPSIA’s advertising and labeling requirements. Please refer to Printing Industries of America’s FAQ for more information.

• The stay does not apply to testing and certification for coils or other components of children’s products that may be subject to the lead-in-paint and other surface coatings requirements.

• The stay does not guarantee that state agencies will not enforce the CPSIA’s testing and certification requirements, however, in the stay, the CPSC requested that state attorneys general “respect the Commission’s judgment that it is necessary to stay certain testing and certification requirements [and] focus their own enforcement efforts on other provisions of the law, e.g. the sale of recalled products.”

In summary, the stay provides a measure of relief but is far from a permanent solution. The Printing Industries of America does however support the CPSC in its recognition that the previous testing and certification deadlines were untenable and required postponement in order to better define the testing and certification protocols, responsibilities, etc. and give the commission time to consider a permanent exemption for the printing industry.

The Printing Industries of America will continue to work towards our ultimate goal of achieving a permanent, complete exemption from the CPSIA. To this effect, the meeting that occurred on January 22nd between members of the Printing Industries of America, the Association of American Publishers, and the CPSC was beneficial in that our taskforce came away with a clear understanding of what the CPSC will require in order to issue such a determination that books and other paper-based printed materials do not contain lead in levels that pose a hazard to children. Please click here to see the letter from Dr. Kristina Hatlelid, CPSC Directorate for Health Sciences, for information regarding the data the CPSC needs to issued such a determination. We welcome any data you may be willing to send that will help the CPSC issue their determination.

If you have any questions regarding the CPSIA please visit the Printing Industries of America’s CPSIA website or contact Gary Jones at 412-259-1794 or gjones@printing.org, Rick Hartwig at 412-259-1792 or rhartwig@printing.org, or Christopher Dugan at 412-259-1779 or cdugan@printing.org.