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Mattel, Fisher-Price to Pay $2.3 Million Lead Paint Fine

Companies recalled nearly 1 million Chinese-made toys in 2007

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 7, 2009

Mattel • Mattel Lawsuit Seeks Lead Tests for Children • Mattel Recalls Millions of Chinese-Made Toys • Mattel's Fisher Price Recalls 1 Million Toys • Fisher-Price Rainforest Infant Swings • Fisher-Price Bunny Toys • Polly Pocket Dolls With Magnets Recalled • Mattel Recalls the Batmobile --- • Check all children's product recalls ...

Mattel Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Fisher-Price Inc. have agreed to pay a $2.3 million civil penalty for violating the federal lead paint ban, in connection with 2007’s high-profile recalls of nearly 1 million toys.

The recalled toys, most of them made in China, included Elmo Light Up Musical Pal, Big Bird Light Up Musical Pal, Dora's Talking House, Go Diego Go Antarctic Rescue, and Sesame Street Birthday Figure Pack.

The penalty settlement, which has been provisionally accepted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, resolves allegations that the companies knowingly imported and sold children's toys with paints or other surface coatings that contained lead levels that violated a 30-year-old federal law.

In 1978, a federal ban was put in place that prohibited toys and other children's articles from having more than 0.06 percent lead, by weight, in paints or surface coatings. In 2007, about 95 Mattel and Fisher-Price toy models were determined to have exceeded this limit. Lead can be toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health consequences.

This civil penalty, which is the highest for violations involving importation or distribution in commerce of a regulated product and is the third highest of any kind in CPSC history, settles the following allegations:

• Mattel imported up to 900,000 non-compliant toys between September 2006 and August 2007, including the "Sarge" toy car and numerous Barbie accessory toys, and distributed most of them to its retail customers for sale to U.S. consumers. The "Sarge" car was recalled in August 2007 and the Barbie toys were recalled in September 2007.

• Fisher-Price imported up to 1.1 million non-compliant toys between July 2006 and August 2007, including certain licensed character toys and the Bongo Band, GEOTRAX locomotive, and Go Diego Go Rescue Boat toys. Most of these toys were distributed to retail stores for sale to consumers. The licensed character toys were recalled in August 2007, the Bongo Band and GEO TRAX toys were recalled in September 2007, and the Go Diego Go Boat toys were recalled in October 2007.

"These highly-publicized toy recalls helped spur Congressional action last year to strengthen CPSC and make even stricter the ban on lead paint on toys," said CPSC Acting Chairman Thomas Moore. "This penalty should serve notice to toy makers that CPSC is committed to the safety of children, to reducing their exposure to lead, and to the implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act."

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