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[Federal Register: September 14, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 177)]
[Notices]               
[Page 55777-55778]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14se10-48]                         

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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[CPSC Docket No. 10-C0005]

 
Pro-Pac Distributing Corp., 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 1118.20(e). 
Published below is a provisionally-accepted Settlement Agreement with 
Pro-Pac Distributing Corp., containing a civil penalty of $125,000.00.

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 September 29, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to comment on this Settlement Agreement 
should send written comments to the Comment 10-C0005, Office of the 
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, 
Room 820, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4408.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason E. Yearout, Trial Attorney, 
Division of Enforcement and Information, Office of the General Counsel, 
Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, 
Maryland 20814-4408; telephone (301) 504-7733.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Agreement and Order appears 
below.

    Dated: September 8, 2010.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[CPSC Docket No. 10-C0005]

In the Matter of: Pro-Pac Distributing Corp.

Settlement Agreement

    1. In accordance with 16 CFR 1118.20, Pro-Pac Distributing 
Corporation (``Pro-Pac'') 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 Staff is the staff of the Commission, an independent federal 
regulatory agency established pursuant to, and responsible for the 
enforcement of, the Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2051-2089 
(``CPSA'').
    3. Pro-Pac is a corporation organized and existing under the laws 
of California, with its principal offices located in Gardena, 
California. At all times relevant hereto, Pro-Pac sold apparel.

Staff Allegations

    4. In November of 2008, Pro-Pac imported and further distributed in 
commerce, through sale and/or holding for sale, children's hooded 
pullover and zipper sweatshirts with drawstrings at the neck, in sizes 
Youth S-L (collectively, ``Sweatshirts'').
    5. Pro-Pac sold Sweatshirts to retailers.
    6. The Sweatshirts are ``consumer product[s],'' and, at all times 
relevant hereto, Pro-Pac was a ``manufacturer'' of those consumer 
products, which were ``distributed in commerce,'' as those terms are 
defined in CPSA sections 3(a)(5), (8), and (11), 15 U.S.C. 2052(a)(5), 
(8), and (11).
    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 
should 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 Web site 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 F1816-97. 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. 1274(c). The letter 
also notes the CPSA's section 15(b) reporting requirements.
    10. Pro-Pac's distribution in commerce of the 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.
    11. On July 15, 2009, the Commission announced Pro-Pac's recall of 
the Sweatshirts.
    12. Pro-Pac had presumed and actual knowledge that the 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. 1274(c)(1). Pro-Pac had obtained information that reasonably 
supported the conclusion that the 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)(3)

[[Page 55778]]

and (4), 15 U.S.C. 2064(b)(3) and (4), required Pro-Pac to immediately 
inform the Commission of the defect and risk.
    13. Pro-Pac knowingly failed to immediately inform the Commission 
about the Sweatshirts as required by CPSA sections 15(b)(3) and (4), 15 
U.S.C. 2064(b)(3) and (4), and as the term ``knowingly'' is defined in 
CPSA section 20(d), 15 U.S.C. 2069(d). This failure violated CPSA 
section 19(a)(4), 15 U.S.C. 2068(a)(4). Pursuant to CPSA section 20, 15 
U.S.C. 2069, this failure subjected Pro-Pac to civil penalties.

Pro-Pac's Response

    14. Pro-Pac denies the Staff's allegations above that Pro-Pac 
knowingly violated the CPSA.

Agreement of the Parties

    15. Under the CPSA, the Commission has jurisdiction over this 
matter and over Pro-Pac.
    16. The parties enter into the Agreement for settlement purposes 
only. The Agreement does not constitute an admission by Pro-Pac, or a 
determination by the Commission, that Pro-Pac knowingly violated the 
CPSA.
    17. In settlement of the Staff's allegations, Pro-Pac shall pay a 
civil penalty in the amount of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars 
($125,000.00). The civil penalty shall be paid 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.
    18. 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 
1118.20(e). In accordance with 16 CFR 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.
    19. Upon the Commission's final acceptance of the Agreement and 
issuance of the final Order, Pro-Pac knowingly, voluntarily, and 
completely waives any rights it may have in this matter 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 Pro-Pac 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.
    20. The Commission may publicize the terms of the Agreement and the 
Order.
    21. The Agreement and the Order shall apply to, and be binding 
upon, Pro-Pac and each of its successors and assigns.
    22. The Commission issues the Order under the provisions of the 
CPSA, and violation of the Order may subject Pro-Pac and each of its 
successors and assigns to appropriate legal action.
    23. 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 alteration is sought to be enforced.
    24. 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 Pro-Pac agree that severing the provision materially affects the 
purpose of the Agreement and the Order.

Pro-Pac Distributing Corp.
Dated: August 11, 2010. By:
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Young-Geun Lee
President and Owner, Pro-Pac Distributing Corp., 204 W. Rosecrans 
Avenue, Gardena, CA 90248.
Dated: August 15, 2010. By:
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Simon Langer,
Law Offices of David Marh & Associates, 3325 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 
1350, Los Angeles, CA 90010, Counsel for Pro-Pac Distributing Corp.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety,
Commission Staff.
Cheryl A. Falvey,
General Counsel.
Ronald G. Yelenik,
Assistant General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel.
Dated: August 24, 2010.
Jason E. Yearout,
Trial Attorney, Division of Compliance, Office of the General 
Counsel.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[CPSC Docket No. 10-C0005]

    In the Matter of: Pro-Pac Distributing Corp.

Order

    Upon consideration of the Settlement Agreement entered into between 
Pro-Pac Distributing Corp. (``Pro-Pac'') and the U.S. Consumer Product 
Safety Commission (``Commission'') staff, and the Commission having 
jurisdiction over the subject matter and over Pro-Pac, 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 Pro-Pac shall pay a civil penalty in the 
amount of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000.00) 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 Pro-Pac to 
make the foregoing payment when due, interest on the unpaid amount 
shall accrue and be paid by Pro-Pac at the federal legal rate of 
interest set forth at 28 U.S.C. 1961(a) and (b).
    Provisionally accepted and provisional Order issued on the 7th day 
of September, 2010.

BY ORDER OF THE COMMISSION:

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Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

[FR Doc. 2010-22779 Filed 9-13-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
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