CPSC Obtains Consent Agreements To Halt Sale Of Illegal Toys And Rattles

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission announced today that it has obtained separate consent decrees against two California toy importers, to halt the distribution of illegal children's products. Both companies are now required to test the products they import for compliance with Federal regulations.

Toy Power Inc., a Los Angeles toy importer and distributor, and M. Chan; its president; agreed to the consent decree of permanent injunction after the government filed a complaint for injunction. In the complaint filed against Toy Power by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, the government alleged that the defendants had imported toys with small parts that detach and could present serious choking, aspiration, or ingestion hazards, including death, to children under three years of age. Federal regulations prohibit the sale of such toys. The government also alleged that the defendants had imported toys containing excess amounts of lead in paint. Federal regulations prohibit the importation and sale of toys containing more than 0.06 percent of lead on any painted surface.

In a similar case, the same Court entered a consent decree on September 6, 1989 against Los Angeles toy importer Li Peng Enterprise Co. (USA), and Mu-Sheng Kuo, the firm's president, and Olivia Chien, its secretary. The government's suit, also filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, alleged that Li Peng had imported rattles that posed serious choking hazards to babies in violation of Federal regulations. The government also alleged that defendants had imported toys with small parts that detach and could present serious choking, aspiration, or ingestion hazards, including death, to children under three years of age.