Mattel, Fisher-Price pay $2.3M fine - Business First of Buffalo:

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million civil penalty for violations of the federakl lead paint banin children’as toys. The civil fine comes after the completed an investigation into the importintg and selling of toys with lead paint levels that exceededthe .06 percent lead by weight limigt that is federally mandated. According to the which recently crafted the Consumer Product SafetuyImprovement Act, aimed at toughening requirementxs for lead and phthalates in children’s products, Mattek imported up to 900,000 non-compliant toys between July 2006 and Septemberd 2007. Fisher-Price imported over 1 million non-compliangt toys between July 2006 andSeptember 2007.
Amongv the toys in question were the popular Sargewtoy car, various Barbie products and some Go Diegi Go toys. Most of the toys that had excessive levelsx of lead were shipped to retaikl stores for sale tothe public. In 2007, a massivw toy recall took place where about 95 Matteland Fisher-Prices toy models were determinedf to have exceeded the lead limit. Lead can be toxi if ingested by young children and can causde serioushealth problems. The topic of lead paint in children’as products has been a hot butto n issue asof late, with the rollout of the controversial CPSIA of 2008.
Toy manufacturers and retailer s have said the new regulationsare vague, costly and often requiring the duplicate testing of products. Some smaller manufacturersx say the laws threaten to put them out of On thepolitical front, Rep. Louise D-Fairport, said protecting children has to be thetop “When the toy recall happened (in I called the head of Fisher-Pricde and I told him they needed to start makinb their toys here again,” Slaughter said.
“We didn’f have these kind of problems before they imported the Thiscivil penalty, which is the highest for violationw involving importation or distribution of a regulated product, is the thirdc highest of any kind in CPSC “These highly publicized toy recalls helpeed spur Congressional action last year to strengthen CPSC and make even strictet the ban on lead painyt on toys,” said CPSC Acting Chairman Thomas “This penalty should serve notice to toy makers that CPSC is committedc to the safety of to reducing their exposurer to lead, and to the implementatioh of the Consumer Product Safety Improvemenrt Act.
” As part of a story featuredc in our sister publication, The Buffali Law Journal , looking at the Consumer Producf Safety Improvement Act, which ran priorf to the announcement of these fines, Fisher-Price declined to provided a representative to discuss the lead painr regulations. Instead, they issued a writteb statementwhich read, in part: “Mattel is well positioned as it generally designs its products to meet global Mattel has also been a leader in the effortsd of industry to establish voluntary industry standards.” The statemen t also said that Mattel would continue to complg with the applicable regulations of the CPSIA.
Mattel was unable to be reached for commentMonday morning, though a representative said they would have a response laterf in the day. Despite agreeing to pay $2.3 million in Mattel and Fisher-Price deny that they knowinglgy violatedfederal law, as alleged by CPSC staff.