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remedial measures taken against companies
like Brightstar, Unik Toyz, Daiso and LM
Import show the company practices leading
to those violations are more serious in
nature.
Since the Daiso consent decree in 2010,
the CPSC has secured nearly 40 settlement
agreements from companies who allegedly
failed to timely report a potentially defective
product. Many of these agreements con-
tained the typical compliance program provi-
sions. On the other hand, the CPSC has
secured only a small handful of agreements
with companies for violations that warrant a
permanent injunction involving a product
safety monitor and product audit. This leads
to the question of whether companies such
as the ones subject to these types of consent
decrees, who potentially inflict serious harm
upon children with repeated violations for
multiple products over multiple years, are
simply fewer in number or just more difficult
to target.
Conclusion
Late last year, the Unik Toyz and
Brightstar consent decrees were entered by
the court. Although these companies may
well be outliers when it comes to fulfilling
their obligations to the public to distribute
safe products, all companies should take
note of the stringent compliance programs
agreed to by these companies. Compliance
programs—in whatever form—are now
commonplace as an enforcement tool of the
federal government for companies who do
not comply with federal product safety
regulations.
The opinions expressed are those of the
authors and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the firm or its clients. This
article is for general information purpos-
es and is not intended to be and should
not be taken as legal advice.
Matt Howsare is of counsel in the Washington, D.C. firm of Mintz Levin
Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC. He formerly served as chief of staff of
the CPSC from 2010 to 2013 and as the chairman’s senior counsel in 2009.
Matthew Cohen is an associate at Mintz Levin.
Although these companies may well be outliers when it comes to fulfilling their
obligations to the public to distribute safe products, all companies should take
note of the stringent compliance programs agreed to by these companies. “
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FEBRUARY 2016 • PPB • 61
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