Monday, December 27, 2010
$100,000 Civil Penalty for Importing Violative Fireworks
No, it is not quite July yet — even though I truly wish it was with all this cold weather the past couple of weeks in South Carolina — the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) is already anticipating next July. On December 8, 2010, the CPSC announced that four fireworks firms agreed to pay a $100,000 civil penalty for importing violative fireworks. The entire agreement can be viewed here [PDF].Jake’s Fireworks, Inc., Far East Imports, Inc., Wholesale Fireworks Enterprises, LLC, and Pacific Northwest Fireworks, Inc. are all in the business of putting fireworks into the stream of United States commerce. From December 2006 to September 2007, these companies imported over 200,000 fireworks that violated CPSC’s regulations at 16 C.F. R. Section 1500.17 (a)(3) and 16 C.F.R. Part 1507. Section 1500.17(a)(3) requires that fireworks that are intended to make an audible sound to contain no more than two (2) grains of pyrotechnic composition.
The fireworks imported contained more than the allowable limit, which could cause serious injury or death if they exploded at ground level. Not only did the CPSC impose a civil penalty, it ordered the destruction of these fireworks within six months of their final order. The CPSC will supervise the destruction but if these companies fail to destroy the subject fireworks within the allowable six months, they will be fined $5,000 a day, not to exceed $750,000 in one year.
With the Fourth of July less than 7 months away, it seems to us that the destruction deadline may be cutting it a bit close. However, with the possibility of a $750,000 fine, these companies will more than likely destroy the violative fireworks sooner than later, making it safe for next summer’s festivities.
