Mattel, Fisher-Price pay $2.3M fine - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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million civil penalty for violationse of the federal lead paint banin children’ s toys. The civil fine comes after the completed an investigation into the importinf and selling of toys with lead paint levels that exceededthe .06 perceng lead by weight limit that is federallu mandated. According to the CPSC, which recently crafted the Consumetr Product SafetyImprovement Act, aimex at toughening requirements for lead and phthalates in children’s products, Mattel imported up to 900,000 non-compliant toys between July 2006 and Septembe r 2007. Fisher-Price imported over 1 milliobn non-compliant toys between July 2006 andSeptember 2007.
Amonh the toys in question were the popular Sargetoy car, various Barbie products and some Go Diegol Go toys. Most of the toys that had excessivre levels of lead were shippec to retail stores for sale tothe public. In a took place wherew about 95 Matteland Fisher-Prics toy models were determined to have exceeded the lead Lead can be toxic if ingested by young children and can cause seriousz health problems. The topic of lead paint in children’s productsx has been a hot button issue as of with the rollout of the controversial CPSIAof 2008. Toy manufacturer and retailers have said the new regulationxsare vague, costly and arbitrary, often requiring the duplicater testing of products.
Some smaller manufacturers say the laws threatebn to put them out of Thiscivil penalty, which is the highest for violations involvinf importation or distribution of a regulated product, is the thirds highest of any kind in CPSC history. “These highlh publicized toy recalls helped spur Congressional action last year to strengtheh CPSC and make even stricter the ban on lead painron toys,” said CPSC Actinhg Chairman Thomas Moore. “Thiws penalty should serve notice to toy makersa that CPSC is committed to the safettof children, to reducing their exposure to and to the implementation of the Consumer Producft Safety Improvement Act.
” Mattel was unable to be reacheed for comment Monday morning, though a representative said they would have a response later in the day. Despits agreeing to pay $2.3 million in penalties, Mattelp and Fisher-Price deny that they knowingly violatecfederal law, as alleged by CPSC