District Court Issues Injunctions Against Companies That Imported Hazardous Children's Toys
A U.S. district court entered two injunctions prohibiting the importation and sale of certain toys and children’s products until safety measures are implemented, the Justice Department announced Aug. 4. The injunctions follow a June 21 DOJ filing of civil actions, requested by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against three New York-based companies, alleging importation of children’s products containing lead, phthalates and “small parts posing a choking hazard” for children under 3 years old. CPSC found that the defendants in both cases imported products in violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA).
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A June 21 complaint alleged that Everbright Trading imported children’s toys or child-care articles containing phthalate concentrations exceeding the allowable amount, as well as toys intended for children under 3 years old with batteries accessible without use of a coin, screwdriver or other common household tool. CPSC collected nearly 100 violative samples of children’s consumer products from Everbright import shipments between March 12, 2013, and June 21 at the ports of New York/Newark and Los Angeles/Long Beach, the complaint states. Violations also included illegal levels of lead content, children’s toys containing latex balloons lacking required cautionary labeling, and toys lacking required certification based on third-party testing and lacking tracking labels, according to the complaint.
Another June 21 complaint states that CPSC between May 15, 2014, and June 21 found 49 samples of imports by Lily Popular Varieties & Gifts to have violated CPSC statutes and regulations. Those products included children’s toys with illegal levels of lead and phthalates, toys intended for children under 3 years old that contain small parts or accessible batteries, children’s art materials that didn’t meet requirements of the Labeling of Hazardous Materials Act, toys containing latex balloons lacking required cautionary labeling, toys that didn’t comply with projectile requirements, bicycle helmets that didn’t meet requirements of the statutory standard for such products, and toys “lacking required certification based on third-party testing and lacking tracking labels.”
The same complaint noted that CPSC had collected another 23 violative samples from Great Great Corporation between Dec. 17, 2013, and June 21 that contained illegal levels of lead and phthalates, toys for 1- and 2-year-olds containing small parts or accessible batteries, children’s art materials that didn’t meet statutory labeling requirements for hazardous art, and toys “lacking required certification based on third-party testing and lacking tracking labels.”
Everbright, Lily Popular Varieties & Gifts and Great Great Corporation agreed with DOJ that CBP will exclude any of their entries of children’s toys intended for kids under age 12, and that the companies will export any such products that are imported subsequent to the date of the agreement, until CPSC sends the company a written notification of compliance, according to the DOJ consent decrees.
CPSC is requiring that the companies take several measures to certify adherence to the laws they didn’t comply with, including hiring an independent product safety coordinator to create a product safety program, establish an effective product safety testing program and enter into an agreement with an accredited third-party conformity assessment body listed on the CPSC’s website to perform third-party testing on children’s products, as required by law. The district court is also ordering the firms to establish procedures for product recalls and adhering to CPSC reporting requirements. “The Product Safety Coordinator shall quarantine all subject merchandise until the terms of the Decree have been satisfied,” the consent decrees say. “At the conclusion of the audit, the Product Safety Coordinator shall prepare a written report analyzing whether Defendants are operating in compliance with the CPSA, the FHSA, any other Act enforced by the CPSC, any regulations issued thereunder, and this Decree.”
The decree also requires Everbright and the product safety coordinator to implement a written children’s product safety program with standard operating procedures, to include periodic testing of subject goods at least once a year, the requirement for maintenance of certificates of conformity for every regulated product, assurance that goods sport all required cautionary labeling, and a checklist requiring that the SOPs are consistently followed. Prior to the decrees, CPSC had sent 41 letters to Everbright and 13 letters to Lily Popular Varieties & Gifts notifying them of violations, DOJ said.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for copies of the complaints and consent decrees.