FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Joanna McNeilly
Speranza Enterprises, LLC
212-313-9600
joanna@speranzallc.com
www.BabyCarrierIndustryAlliance.org
Berwick, Maine, July 22, 2010 – Leading Baby Carrier Manufacturers,
Retailers, Educators, and Component Part and Accessories Manufacturers
proudly announce the formation of the industry’s first trade
organization, the Baby Carrier Industry Alliance (BCIA).
The newly formed BCIA will educate families
about the indisputable benefits of using quality baby carriers,
coordinate information gathering and research, and work with government
organizations to ensure safe, quality baby carriers that emulate in-arms
carrying are available to parents and caregivers.
“This organization has been a long time coming; the industry as a
whole wants parents to feel confident with their choice in baby carrier.
We want parents to know that they are offering their baby the best, and
safest, possible start to life by carrying their child in an
ergonomically correct baby carrier,” says Vesta Garcia, founder of
Peppermint and Ellaroo.
The immediate responsibility of the BCIA is
to finalize work on a voluntary standard for infant slings. “We are
working as quickly as possible to get a strong standard to ballot in the
near future,” says Kristen DeRocha, chair of the American Society of
Tests and Measures (ASTM) subcommittee on sling standards and founder of Hotslings. The BCIA
believes the completion of this standard is key to ensuring the safety
and general availability of both commercially produced and handcrafted
babywearing products.
In 2007, a small group of sling manufacturers voluntarily approached the ASTM,
the body responsible for creating standards for thousands of consumer
products in the United States, to request that work on such a standard
begin. In Spring 2008, several manufacturers of infant carriers and
carrier component parts began work on the standard along with the CPSC, Health Canada, and several consumer groups. The BCIA
looks forward to the eventual adoption of the voluntary safety
standards so it can move towards its larger goal of education and
research.
For more information on the BCIA visit our website:
www.BabyCarrierIndustryAlliance.org