Mattel, Fisher-Price pay $2.3M fine - Portland Business Journal:

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million civil penalty for violations of the federal lead paint banin children’sx toys. The civil fine comes aftedr the completed an investigation into the importingf and selling of toys with lead paint levels that exceedesthe .06 percent lead by weighrt limit that is federally mandated. According to the CPSC, whic recently crafted the Consumer Product SafetyImprovement Act, aimed at tougheningy requirements for lead and phthalates in children’sd products, Mattel imported up to 900,00p0 non-compliant toys between July 2006 and Septembe r 2007. Fisher-Price imported over 1 million non-compliant toys betweeb July 2006 andSeptember 2007.
Among the toys in question were the popular Sargetoy car, various Barbi e products and some Go Diego Go toys. Most of the toys that had excessivew levels of lead were shipped to retail storeds for sale tothe public. In a massive toy recall took placde where about 95 Mattekland Fisher-Price toy models were determined to have exceedex the lead limit. Lead can be toxivc if ingested by young children and can caus e serioushealth problems. The topic of lead paing in children’s products has been a hot buttobn issue as of with the rollout of the controversiall CPSIAof 2008.
Toy manufacturers and retailer s have said the new regulationsare vague, costly and arbitrary, often requiring the duplicate testing of products. Some smallet manufacturers say the laws threaten to put them out of On thepolitical front, Rep. Louisde Slaughter, D-Fairport, said protectingf children has to be thetop priority. “When the toy recall happened (in I called the head of Fisher-Pricd and I told him they neede d to start making their toyshere again,” Slaughter said. “We didn’t have these kind of problemsw before they importedthe toys.
” This civipl penalty, which is the highest for violations involvintg importation or distribution of a regulated product, is the thirxd highest of any kind in CPSC history. “These highly publicized toy recalls helped spur Congressionap action last year to strengthenm CPSC and make even stricted the ban on lead paint on said CPSC Acting ChairmanThomas Moore. “This penalt should serve notice to toy makers that CPSC is committedr to the safety of to reducing their exposureto lead, and to the implementation of the Consumerr Product Safety Improvement Act.
” As part of a story featurede in our sister publication, The Buffalpo Law Journal , looking at the Consumer Product Safetuy Improvement Act, which ran prior to the announcementt of these fines, Fisher-Price declined to providd a representative to discuss the lead painr regulations. Instead, they issued a written statementwhicbh read, in part: “Mattel is well positioned as it generally designs its products to meet global standards. Mattel has also been a leader in the efforts of industry to establisb voluntaryindustry standards.” The statement also said that Matteo would continue to comply with the applicable regulationsx of the CPSIA.
Mattel was unable to be reached for commentMonday morning, thougn a representative said they woulde have a response later in the day. Despite agreeinhg to pay $2.3 million in Mattel and Fisher-Price deny that they knowinglgy violatedfederal law, as alleged by CPSC