This is from another forum, 11/17/09
This article just came out in Powersport Industry News. Very interesting
OEM ACTIONS PULLED POWERSPORTS INDUSTRY INTO THE CPSIA
Originally designed to protect the nation’s children from toys, jewelry, clothes and other merchandise containing harmful amounts of lead that could be “mouthed” and ingested, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) ballooned to ultimately include small displacement ATVs, motorcycles and snowmobiles before being passed into law on Aug. 14, 2008.
So how did the powersports industry get drawn into the federal rule? Multiple documents point to the powersports industry itself –namely, to major vehicle manufacturers who, working together under the banner of the Coalition for Safe and Responsible ATV Use, unwittingly precipitated the action via a lobbying campaign launched to stem the tide of small displacement powersports vehicles coming from manufacturers, mostly from China, who were entering the market in growing numbers – and who were slowly chipping away at the market share amassed by the leading OEMs.
In 2005, Polaris industries – one of six major ATV manufacturers involved in the Coalition, alongside BRP, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha – urged passage of a bill to prohibit a manufacturer from distributing any ATV unless it complied with safety standards accepted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In other words, the Coalition had agreed to give the CPSC unfettered power to regulate youth-sized powersports vehicles.
Three years later, in July 2008, after OEMs invested hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbying efforts, the Coalition published a press release that “applauded” Congress for passing a bill that required all companies that import or sell ATVs in the U.S. to comply with the same vehicle safety standards and to implement the same training and other safety initiatives that "established" ATV manufacturers have followed. The bill, which created immediate mandatory standards for all ATVs sold in the U.S., within one month became a part of the CPSIA.
However, while the Coalition initially sought the government’s assistance in codifying safety guidelines, including appropriate configuration and performance aspects of ATVs, speed restrictions on youth ATVs, free hands-on training programs, and promotion of helmets and other proper gear, the OEMs’ willingness to allow the CPSC to regulate vehicle standards experienced an unforeseen blowback.
On Oct. 16, 2008, the CPSC held a public meeting regarding the application of the CPSIA to ATVs. In the presentation it was noted that ATVs would have to comply with other sections of the CPSIA beyond the section specifically labeled for ATVs, including the lead content sections that outlined that products sold for use by children 12 years of age or younger 1) could not contain more than 600 parts per million (ppm) of lead as of Feb. 10, 2009, 2) could not contain more than 300 ppm of lead after Aug. 14, 2009, and 3) may not contain more than 100 ppm after Aug. 14, 2011.
That’s when the true impact of the CPSIA became apparent to industry stakeholders – manufacturers, dealers and consumers – and resulted in the same OEMs who had for years lobbied together for tighter restrictions governing youth sized powersports vehicles to go on the defensive in an effort to turn back the new requirements, and the loss of millions of dollars inrevenue, they had instigated.
Learn more about the CPSIA HERE.
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