More than 4.8M Units of Potentially Dangerous Imported Products Discovered During Fiscal Year 2012 Government Screenings

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ended fiscal year 2012 having stopped a total of about 4.8 million units of products that violated U.S. safety rules or were found to be hazardous during the fiscal year (October 2011 to September 2012).

More than 18,000 different imported consumer products were screened, and about 1,500 of those products were found to be violations and were stopped from moving into the U.S. stream of commerce. As in the previous fiscal quarters, children’s products with lead levels exceeding federal limits continued to make up the bulk of products stopped in the fourth quarter of 2012.  Toys and other articles with small parts that present a choking hazard for children younger than 3 years old and toys and child care articles with phthalate levels in excess of federal limits were also product categories with a high number of seizures.
Screening efforts intensified in 2008 with the creation of a government import surveillance division, and again in 2011 with the creation of the Office of Import Surveillance.
The Import Stoppage Report and the table of Violative Products Seized at the Port during 4th Quarter, FY 2012 are available at http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News-Releases/2013/More-than-48M-Units-of-Violative-Imported-Products-Kept-at-Bay-During-Fiscal-Year-2012/.
Toys and children’s products may be hazardous because of a defective design, or due to poor manufacturing, misleadingly advertised inaccurate labels, or inadequate cautions or warnings. If you or a loved one has experienced personal injury as the result of using a defective product, speak with a personal injury lawyer at Swartz and Swartz PC to learn about the legal options available to you. Contact our Boston Law office – we are here to answer your questions and protect your legal rights. Call us at (617) 742-1900 or Toll-Free at (800) 545-3732.