WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission imposed the largest fine it's ever made to Imperial Toy Corp., of Los Angeles, Calif.
The toy company agreed to pay a $200,000 civil penalty for importing and selling children's toys intended for children under age 3 that had small parts that could cause choking, aspiration or ingestion hazards.
The federal lawsuit against Imperial, filed in May 2003, alleged between 1998 and 2001 the company imported two models of toys for a total of 10,000 units with small parts in violation of CPSC regulations. The toys were candy-filled plastic -- recalled in 1998 -- and dolls' feeding sets -- recalled in 2001.
Due to federal law enforcement intervention, many of these toys were seized at the Port of Long Beach, in California, before they could reach store shelves. No incidents or injuries have been reported with those toys.
In 2002, the latest year for which CPSC has data, there were 13 deaths and an estimated 212,000 children under 15 years old treated in hospital emergency rooms due to toy-related incidents.
