The new Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008 has been signed into law. It is very heartening to see the stricter rules and regulations for the safety of kids' toys and baby products that will now be in place due to the new law. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has been given more power and more funding in order to effectively put into action the stricter toy safety standards. Following the huge hue and cry that was raised over last years' toy safety fiasco, the new law will now aim to tackle unsafe toys right at the source as well as make it easier to track down unsafe and defective toys that are already in the pipeline.

The levels of lead are to be kept to a bare minimum, both in the surface coatings as well as in the material of toys. Six types of phthalates are to be completely banned, especially in chewable toys. I was particularly happy about the mandatory toy testing which must be done by an accredited independent assessment body. This testing has to be done before the toy is actually imported or distributed, thus preventing the very entry of hazardous toys into the market. Hopefully this will prevent cases like what we've seen in the past, with dangerous recalled toys being sold on eBay and other places.

All children's products have to carry a trackable label which will be able to identify information concerning where and when the product was produced, batch and lot number, etc. Also, any toy advertisements have to display mandatory warnings like the small parts warning and other applicable warnings in a prominent fashion. In addition, a database is going to be made which will help parents and consumers keep track of any dangerous products on the market.

With all these new toy safety measures coming up rapidly, I think that parents can finally breathe a sigh of relief and look forward to safe and healthy toy play in the years to come.

After a long and arduous legal battle with MGA Entertainment, Mattel finally emerged as the winner. For those of you who don't know what the big hoo-hah is all about, Mattel was suing MGA over their Bratz dolls, claiming that MGA stole the idea for Bratz dolls from them. The dolls were created by a former employee of Mattel, Carter Bryant, while he was still under Mattel's payroll. After much deliberation, the jury concluded that most of the early Bratz designs as well as the name "Bratz" was created while Mr Bryant was still working for Mattel.

It's kind of ironic, isn't it, that Bratz turned around to steal the #1 Doll spot from right under Mattel's nose! But, hey, let bygones be bygones. As for now, the decision of the jury raises all sorts of questions in one's mind. MGA is primarily known for the Bratz brand and now this very important brand is in jeopardy. As for Mattel, any potential association with the "bad girl" Bratz brand could tarnish Barbie's "squeaky clean" image. Let's wait and watch as to what happens!