[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 179 (Thursday, September 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47783-47785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-22399]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[CPSC Docket No. 09-C0035]


Maran, Inc., 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 
Maran, Inc., containing a civil penalty of $50,000.00.

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 October 2, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to comment on this Settlement Agreement 
should send written comments to Comment 09-C0035, Office of the 
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, 
Room 502, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4408.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis C. Kacoyanis, Trial Attorney, 
Division of Compliance, Office of the General Counsel, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-
4408; telephone (301) 504-7587.

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

    Dated: September 14, 2009.
 Todd A. Stevenson,
 Secretary.

Settlement Agreement

    1. In accordance with 16 CFR 1118.20, Maran, Inc. (``Maran'') 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. 2051-2089 (``CPSA'').
    3. Maran is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of 
the State of Delaware, with its principal offices located in North 
Bergen, NJ. Maran is an importer of apparel.

Staff Allegations

    4. Maran imported about 6,000 girls' corduroy jackets with pink 
hoods and drawstrings (``Drawstring Jackets''). From April 30, 2006 to 
May 25, 2006, Maran imported the Drawstring Jackets and sold them from 
January 27, 2007 to January 29, 2009 to a major nationwide retailer who 
in turn sold them to consumers.
    5. The Drawstring Jackets are ``consumer product[s],'' and, at all 
times relevant hereto, Maran 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. Sec.  
2052(a)(5), (8), and (11).
    6. 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.
    7. In June 1997, ASTM adopted a voluntary standard, ASTM F1816-97, 
which incorporated the Guidelines. The Guidelines state that firms 
should be aware of the hazards and should be sure

[[Page 47784]]

garments they sell conform to the voluntary standard.
    8. 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.
    9. Maran reported to the Commission there had been no incidents or 
injuries involving Drawstring Jackets.
    10. Maran's manufacture and distribution in commerce of the 
Drawstring Jackets 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 May 15, 2008, the Commission and Maran announced a recall of 
the Drawstring Jackets. The recall informed consumers that they should 
immediately remove the drawstrings to eliminate the hazard.
    12. Maran had presumed and actual knowledge that the Drawstring 
Jackets 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). Maran had obtained information that 
reasonably supported the conclusion that the Drawstring Jackets 
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) and (4), 15 U.S.C. Sec.  2064(b)(3) and (4), required 
Maran to immediately inform the Commission of the defect and risk.
    13. Maran knowingly failed to immediately inform the Commission 
about the Drawstring Jackets 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 Maran to civil penalties.

Maran's Response

    14. Maran denies the Staff's allegations that Maran violated the 
CPSA.

Agreement of the Parties

    15. Under the CPSA, the Commission has jurisdiction over this 
matter and over Maran.
    16. The parties enter into the Agreement for settlement purposes 
only. The Agreement does not constitute an admission by Maran, or a 
determination by the Commission, that Maran has knowingly violated the 
CPSA.
    17. In settlement of the Staff's allegations, Maran shall pay a 
civil penalty in the amount of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) 
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.
    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, Maran 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 Maran 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, Maran 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 those referenced in 
paragraph 21 above 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 Maran agree that severing the provision materially affects the 
purpose of the Agreement and the Order.
Maran, Inc.
Dated: May 18, 2009

By:--------------------------------------------------------------------

David Greenberg,
President and Chief Executive Officer.

Maran, Inc., 4301-15 Tonnelle Avenue, North Bergen, NJ 07407.

Dated: May 19, 2009
By:--------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert L. Mulligan III, Esquire,
Counsel for Respondent Maran, Inc.

126 State Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Cheryl A. Falvey,
General Counsel.

Ronald G. Yelenik,
Assistant General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel.

Dated: 05/22/09

By:--------------------------------------------------------------------

Dennis C. Kacoyanis,
Trial Attorney, Division of Compliance.

Office of the General Counsel

Order

    Upon consideration of the Settlement Agreement entered into between 
Maran, Inc. (``Maran'') and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 
(``Commission'') staff, and the Commission having jurisdiction over the 
subject matter and over Maran, 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 Maran shall pay a civil penalty in the amount 
of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) 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

[[Page 47785]]

States Treasury. Upon the failure of Maran to make the foregoing 
payment when due, interest on the unpaid amount shall accrue and be 
paid by Maran 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 4th day 
of September 2009.

    By Order of the Commission.

Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. E9-22399 Filed 9-16-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P