Our Commitment to Child Safety
In 2004, L.M. Becker & Co., Inc. was one of four companies that voluntarily recalled a combined total of 150 million pieces of children's jewelry sold in vending machines. Only about half of the pieces actually contained lead, but because it was difficult for the consumer to distinguish the lead jewelry from the non-lead jewelry, we decided to voluntarily recall all of these items, in order to make sure that the dangerous items were disposed of properly.
All of the items in that recall were manufactured and imported from India. We understood that the imported jewelry items contained a non-lead coating or plating, that would protect and prevent any lead used in the core of the item from being exposed. However, at that time, there were no Federal rulings or guidelines for testing lead in children's jewelry, so there were no available methods of testing to determine if the plating would be sufficient if the item were ingested. Therefore, after that problem became known, we worked very closely with the CPSC to assist them in establishing the "Interim Enforcement Policy for Children's Metal Jewelry Containing Lead - 2/3/2005" that is in existence today, limiting children's jewelry to a maximum of 600ppm (parts per million) total lead.
Our company worked closely with our overseas manufacturers to develop a new era of children's jewelry that neither contained high levels of lead, nor required any protective coating or plating. Our company sent samples of these newly formulated items to the CPSC for their analysis, which tests they referenced to establish the testing methodology required in the enforcement policy. This same 600 ppm total lead limit is now under government legislation to become inducted as an "official" CPSC ruling in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) which governs the safety of all consumer products in the U.S.. We feel honored and privileged to have played an influential role in working with the CPSC in establishing these new safety guidelines to protect our children from the harmful effects of lead.
Since the recall of 2004, we have established a new "Purchase Order Terms & Conditions for Import Orders" which our all of our suppliers, including those overseas, have reviewed and accepted as our new safety policy for conducting business (read our Safety Compliance Statement). We hope that by sharing our corporate policy with other manufacturers and importers through this website, they will also consider adopting the same or similar policies with their overseas suppliers to insure our children's safety.
Additionally, we are providing this information publicly to inform consumers and the media that some suppliers of vending products (such as ourselves) have taken aggressive measures since 2004, to ensure that the products we now distribute fully comply with the current Federal safety regulations.
We feel strongly that it is the responsibility of the company importing products into the United States to adopt their own testing policy and procedures to ensure that the products they distribute are safe.
Most Sincerely,
Jonathan D. Becker
President
L.M. Becker & Co., Inc. (Toy ‘n Joy)
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