Importers need tougher regulations

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has had to step in and recall children's jewelry and tell parents to dispose of it because it exposes children to dangerous heavy metals. Most parents who bought it will never get the word and children will continue to be exposed. The importer is out of business.

The real solution is for importers to specify explicitly what these items can contain and to test to verify it, all before it is distributed.

The industry has obviously failed because these products have been found several times recently. But they say it is too much trouble to protect our children by testing. That is just wrong.

At the first sign of trouble many fly-by-night importers go out of business and records are lost. Of course, the same people pop up with a new import company in the next shopping season. If protecting our children requires a draconian import procedure with importer accreditation, import licensing, source-to-sale product tracking, and insurance to recoup costs of violation, it will be the industry that brought it on itself. There can be no sympathy for people who take risks with America's children.

Mark Muehlhausen

Schaumburg