CPSC Announces $200,000 Settlement with Toy Importer for Lead Paint & Reporting Violations
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced that Schylling Associates Inc. of Massachusetts has agreed to pay a $200,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that it (i) violated the lead paint ban regarding toys it imported and (ii) failed to immediately report the problem to CPSC.
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Resolves Allegations Importer Knew of Problem, Failed to Immediately Report
The civil penalty is part of a settlement agreement which has been provisionally accepted by CPSC and which resolves the following allegations:
Imported and sold non-compliant toys. According to CPSC, Schylling imported and sold non-compliant toys as follow:
imported up to 66,000 units of non-compliant spinning top toys with Thomas and Friends, Curious George and Circus graphics between June 2001 and June 2002, and distributed them to retail business customers for sale to consumers;
imported as many as 10,200 units of non-compliant tin pail toys with Thomas and Friends, Curious George and Primary Colors graphics from late January 2002 through March 2002, and distributed about 4,700 of them to retail customers for sale to consumers;
imported as many as 3,600 units of non-compliant Winnie-the-Pooh style spinning top toys between April and May 2003, and distributed them to its retail customers for sale to consumers.
Knew or should have known of problems. CPSC claims that Schylling knew or should have known by 2002 that most of the toys did not comply with the lead paint ban. Later, even though Schylling severed ties with the original manufacturer and ordered a change in the manufacturing process so that a plastic part was used instead of painted wood, certain toys with noncompliant wooden parts still entered the market, supposedly unknown to the company. CPSC states that the company knew or should have known of this problem as well.
Failed to report to CPSC in timely manner. In 2002, when Schylling first learned of the problem it did not notify CPSC immediately as required. Instead, the company conducted a unilateral recall of the distributed pails by seeking their return from affected retail business customers. Although it eventually reported information about these toys to CPSC in 2007 and a voluntary recall was conducted, CPSC states that the company failed to report this information to the government in a timely manner.
Importers/Manufacturers Must Ensure Non-Compliant Products Do Not Enter Market, Must Report
According to CPSC Chairman, Inez Tenenbaum, "Manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers have a legal obligation to ensure that no banned products are introduced into or distributed in the U.S. marketplace, and to inform CPSC as soon as they become aware of information that must be reported under our laws. We will continue to penalize companies that do not follow these basic requirements."
CPSC press release (dated 02/04/10) available at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10133.html
Provisionally accepted settlement agreement available at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10133.pdf