[Federal Register: August 12, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 156)]
[Notices]
[Page 46882-46883]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12au08-42]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
(CPSC Docket No. 08-C0019)
Scope Imports, Inc., Provisional Acceptance of a Settlement
Agreement and Order
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission
ACTION: Notice
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SUMMARY: It is the policy of the Commission to publish settlements
which it provisionally accepts under the Consumer Product Safety Act in
the Federal Register in accordance with the terms of 16 CFR Sec.
1118.20(e). Published below is a provisionally accepted Settlement
Agreement with Scope Imports, Inc., containing a civil penalty of
$70,000.00.
DATES: Any interested person may ask the Commission not to accept this
agreement or otherwise comment on its contents by filing a written
request with the Office of the Secretary by August 27, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to comment on this Settlement Agreement
should send written comments to the Comment 08-C0019, Office of the
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway,
Room 502, Bethesda, Maryland 208 144408.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis C. Kacoyanis, Trial Attorney,
Legal Division, Office of Compliance and Field Operations, Consumer
Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland
208 14-4408; telephone (301) 504-7587.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Agreement and Order appears
below.
August 5, 2008
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary.
United States of America
Consumer Product Safety Commission
In the Matter of Scope Imports, Inc.
CPSC Docket No. 08-C0019
Settlement Agreement
1. In accordance with 16 C.F.R. Sec. 1118.20, Scope Imports,
Inc. (``Scope'') and the staff (``Staff'') of the United States
Consumer Product Safety Commission (``Commission'') enter into this
Settlement Agreement (``Agreement''). The Agreement and the
incorporated attached Order (``Order'') settle the Staff's
allegations set forth below
Parties
2. The Commission is an independent federal regulatory agency
established pursuant to, and responsible for the enforcement of, the
Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 2051-2084
(``CPSA'').
3. Scope is a corporation organized and existing under the laws
of Texas, with its principal offices located in Houston, TX. At all
times relevant hereto, Scope imported and sold apparel.
Staff Allegations
4. From July 30, 2007 to August 30, 2007, Scope imported and/or
sold to retailers at least 95,628 boys' hooded sweatshirts with hood
and neck drawstrings (``Drawstring Sweatshirts'').
5. Retailers sold the Drawstring Sweatshirts to consumers.
6. The Drawstring Sweatshirts are ``consumer product[s],'' and,
at all times relevant hereto, Scope was a ``manufacturer'' of those
consumer products, which were ``distributed in commerce,'' as those
terms are defined in CPSA sections 3(a)(1), (4), (11), and (12), 15
U.S.C. Sec. 2052(a)(1), (4), (11), and (12).
7. In February 1996, the Staff issued the Guidelines for
Drawstrings on Children's Upper Outerwear (``Guidelines'') to help
prevent children from strangling or entangling on neck and waist
drawstrings. The Guidelines state that drawstrings can cause, and
have caused, injuries and deaths when they catch on items such as
playground equipment, bus doors, or cribs. In the Guidelines, the
Staff recommends that there be no hood and neck drawstrings in
children's upper outerwear sized 2T to 12.
8. In June 1997, ASTM adopted a voluntary standard, ASTM F1816-
97, that incorporated the Guidelines. The Guidelines state that
firms shou1d be aware of the hazards and should be sure garments
they sell conform to the voluntary standard.
9. On May 19, 2006, the Commission posted on its website a
letter from the Commission's Director of the Office of Compliance to
manufacturers, importers, and retailers of children's upper
outerwear. The letter urges them to make certain that all children's
upper outerwear sold in the United States complies with ASTM Fl816-
97. The letter states that the Staff considers children's upper
outerwear with drawstrings at the hood or neck area to be defective
and to present a substantial risk of injury to young children under
Federal Hazardous Substances Act (``FHSA'') section 15(c), 15 U.S.C
Sec. 1274(c). The letter aLso notes the CPSA section 15(b)
reporting requirements.
10. Scope indicated to the Commission that there had been no
incidents or injuries from the Drawstring Sweatshirts.
11. Scope's distribution in commerce of the Drawstring
Sweatshirts did not meet the Guidelines or ASTM F1816-97, failed to
comport with the Staff's May 2006 defect notice, and posed a
strangulation hazard to children.
12. On December 6, 2007, the Commission and Scope announced a
recall of the Drawstring Sweatshirts, informing consumers that they
should immediately remove the drawstrings to eliminate the hazard.
13. Scope had presumed and actual knowledge that the Drawstring
Sweatshirts distributed in commerce posed a strangulation hazard and
presented a substantial risk of injury to children under FHSA
section 15(c)(1), 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1274(c)(1). Scope had obtained
information that reasonably supported the conclusion that the
Drawstring Sweatshirts contained a defect that could create a
substantial product hazard or that they created an unreasonable risk
of serious injury or death. CPSA sections 15(b)(2) and (3), 15
U.S.C. Sec. 2064(b)(2) and (3), required Scope to immediately
inform the Commission of the defect and risk.
14. Scope knowingly failed to immediately inform the Commission
about the Drawstring Sweatshirts as required by CPSA sections
15(b)(2) and (3), 15 U.S.C. Sec. 2064(b)(2) ad (3), and as the term
``knowingly'' is defined in CPSA section 20(d), 15 U.S.C. Sec.
2069(d). This failure violated CPSA section 19(a)(4), 15 U.S.C.
Sec. 20(a)(4). Pursuant to CPSA section 20. 15 U.S.C. Sec. 2069,
this failure subjected Scope to civil penalties.
Scope Response
15. Scope denies the Staff's allegations set forth above,
including but not limited to, any allegation that it violated any
provision of the CPSA or HSA.
16. Scope has entered into the Agreement for settlement purposes
only. The Agreement and Order do not constitute and are not evidence
of any fault or wrongdoing on the part of Scope.
[[Page 46883]]
Agreement of the Parties
17. Under the CPSA, the Commission has jurisdiction over this
matter and over Scope.
18. The parties enter into the Agreement for settlement purposes
only. The Agreement does not constitute an admission by Scope, or a
determination by the Commission, that Scope has knowingly violated
the CPSA.
19. In settlement of the Staff's allegations, Scope shall pay a
civil penalty in the amount of seventy thousand dollars ($70,000.00)
within twenty (20) calendar days of service of the Commission's
final Order accepting the Agreement The payment shall be by check
payable to the order of the United States Treasury.
20. Upon provisional acceptance of the Agreement, the Agreement
shall be placed on the public record and published in the Federal
Register in accordance with the procedures set forth in 16 CFR Sec.
1118.20(e). In accordance with 16 CFR Sec. 1118.20(f), if the
Commission does not receive any written request not to accept the
Agreement within fifteen (15) calendar days, the Agreement shall be
deemed finally accepted on the sixteenth (16th) calendar day after
the date it is published in the Federal Register.
21. Upon the Commission's final acceptance of the Agreement and
issuance of the final Order, Scope knowingly, voluntarily, and
completely waives any rights it may have regarding the Staff's
allegations to the following: (1) an administrative or judicial
hearing; (2) judicial review or other challenge or contest of the
validity of the Order or of the Commission's actions; (3) a
determination by the Commission of whether Scope failed to comply
with the CPSA and its underlying regulations; (4) a statement of
findings of fact and conclusions of law; and (5) any claims under
the Equal Access to Justice Act.
22. The Commission may publicize the terms of the Agreement and
the Order.
23. The Agreement and the Order shall apply to, and be binding
upon, Scope and each of its successors and assigns.
24. The Commission issues the Order under the provisions of the
CPSA, and violation of the Order may subject Scope to appropriate
legal action.
25. The Agreement may be used in interpreting the Order.
Understandings, agreements, representations, or interpretations
apart from those contained in the Agreement and the Order may not be
used to vary or contradict their terms. The Agreement shall not be
waived, amended, modified, or otherwise altered without written
agreement thereto executed by the party against whom such waiver,
amendment, modification, or altercation is sought to be enforced.
26. If any provision of the Agreement and the Order is held to
be illegal, invalid, or unenforceable under present or future laws
effective during the terms of the Agreement and the Order, such
provision shall be fully severable. The balance of the Agreement and
the Order shall remain in full force and effect, unless the
Commission and Scope agree that severing the provision materially
affects the purpose of the Agreement and the Order.
27. Pursuant to section 6(d) of the Interim Delegation of
Authority ordered by the Commission on February 1, 2008, the
Commission delegated to the Assistant Executive Director for
Compliance and Field Operations the authority to act, with the
concurrence of the General Counsel, for the Commission under 16 CFR
Sec. 1118.20 with respect to Staff allegations that any person or
firm violated 15 U.S.C Sec. 2068, where the total amount of the
settlement involves no more than $100,000.
Scope Imports, Inc.
Dated: 6/10/08.
By: Alan Finkelman,
President, Scope Imports, Inc., 8020 Blankenship Drive, Houston, TX
77055.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Staff.
J. Gibson Mullan,
Assistant Executive Director, Office of Compliance and Field
Operations.
Ronald G. Yelenik,
Acting Director, Legal Division, Office of Compliance and Field
Operations.
Dated: 6/10/08.
By: Dennis C. Kacoyanis,
Trial Attorney, Legal Division, Office of Compliance and Field
Operations.
United States of America
Consumer Product Safety Commission
In the Matter of Scope Imports, Inc., CPSC Docket No. 08-C0019.
Order
Upon consideration of the Settlement Agreement entered into
between Scope Imports, Inc. (``Scope'') and the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission (``Commission'') staff, and the Commission
having jurisdiction over the subject matter and over Scope, and
pursuant to the authority delegated in section 6(d) of the Interim
Delegation of Authority ordered by the Commission on February 1,
2008, and it appearing that the Settlement Agreement and the Order
are in the public interest, it is ordered, that the Settlement
Agreement be, and hereby is, accepted; and it is further ordered,
that Scope shall pay a civil penalty in the amount of seventy
thousand dollars ($70,000.00) within twenty (20) calendar days of
service of the Commission's final Order accepting the Agreement. The
payment shall be made by check payable to the order of the United
States Treasury. Upon the failure of Scope to make the foregoing
payment when due, interest on the unpaid amount shall accrue and be
paid by Scope at the federal legal rate of interest set forth at 28
U.S.C. Sec. 1961(a) and (b).
Provisionally accepted and provisional Order issued on the 4th
day of August 2008.
By Order of The Commission.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. E8-18398 Filed 8-11-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-M