NEW CITY – Rockland County has agreed to not implement a new law that would ban toys and children’s products for kids under 12 that contain heavy metals “at any level” that otherwise meet safety laws under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and the Consumer Product Safety Act.
The stay was put in place by the county after the “Safe to Play Coalition” of which the Halloween Industry Association is a principal partner, threatened to sue the county claiming the measure violates federal preemptive safety laws.
The county law was slated to go into effect in mid-October.
The law is identical to one passed in Albany County that was also halted as a result of being the subject of a lawsuit in federal court alleging the county acted with “gross disregard of extensive federal laws regulating the safety of toys and children’s products” and failed to adhere to the US Constitution.
“This law claimed to make children’s products safer when, in reality, all it did was criminalize and ban the sale of safe children’s Halloween products that parents wanted for their children,” said Rick Locker, counsel to the coalition and HIA. “The safety of children is our top priority, and we thank the county attorney for allowing that mission to remain our focus.”
Michele Biordi, HIA executive director, said the “real threat of litigation spooked the county and help them come to their senses before a broad array of Halloween products were swept from retail shelves.”
