Scope Imports, Inc., Provisional Acceptance of a Settlement Agreement and Order, 46882-46883 [E8-18398]

Agencies

• Consumer Product Safety Commission

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 12, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46882-46883]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-18398]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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