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Three New York toy importers halted

The Justice Department on Friday filed permanent injunctions against three New York companies and their owners to stop importing and selling potentially dangerous toys until certain measures are taken by these firms to clean up the problem.

   The Justice Department on Friday filed permanent injunctions against three New York companies and their owners to stop importing and selling potentially dangerous toys until certain measures are taken by these firms to clean up the problem. 
   The injunctions apply to Everbright Trading Inc., its owner Yuan Xiang Gao and manager Rong Qing Xu, as well as New York companies Lily Popular Varieties & Gifts Inc., Great Great Corp., and their owners and operators Li Jing and Cheng Feng You. 
   On June 21, the Justice Department filed two separate civil actions in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York at the request of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The complaints in each case alleged that the defendants were responsible for importing children’s products containing, among other things, lead, phthalates and small parts posing a choking hazard for children under the age of three.
   Since March 2013, CPSC has collected from Everbright 97 samples of dangerous toys and other non-compliant children’s products from their import shipments at the Port of New York and New Jersey and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. 
   Similarly, CPSC since December 2013 has collected from the Lily Popular Varieties & Gifts 72 samples of non-compliant toys and other children’s products from their facility in Maspeth, N.Y., and import shipments at the ports of New York and New Jersey and Los Angeles. 
   Based on its findings, CPSC has issued 41 letters to the Everbright defendants and 13 letters to the Lily Popular Varieties & Gifts defendants notifying them that their products violated federal standards.
   “The defendants will be permitted to resume selling toys and other children’s products only after implementing these measures and demonstrating that their operations fully comply with the law,” the Justice Department said.

Chris Gillis

Located in the Washington, D.C. area, Chris Gillis primarily reports on regulatory and legislative topics that impact cross-border trade. He joined American Shipper in 1994, shortly after graduating from Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, Md., with a degree in international business and economics.