| Office of Information and Public Affairs | Washington, DC 20207 |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 8, 2005 Release #06-050 |
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: Julie Vallese, (301) 504-7908 or Mark Ross, (301) 504-7076 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing today Winco Fireworks Inc., Winco Fireworks International LLC and Winco Fireworks of Utah LLC, of Prairie Village, Kan., and David Collar will pay a $600,000 civil penalty for importing and selling dangerous fireworks.
The defendants, Winco Fireworks Inc. and company president, David Collar, had previously entered into a consent decree which required the testing of imported fireworks for compliance with U.S. fireworks laws and regulations, and prohibited the sale of devices that fail to comply with federal fireworks regulations. CPSC alleged the defendants imported and sold banned or misbranded fireworks after they entered into this agreement, and sold at least one type of fireworks device posing a substantial product hazard.
In addition to paying the civil penalty, the firms are required, under the modified consent decree, to have all future imports tested and certified to meet U.S. fireworks laws and regulations. The testing and certification must be conducted by the American Fireworks Standards Laboratory or another independent third party acceptable to CPSC.
CPSC alleged that the defendants sold a device with mortar tubes and shells that posed an unreasonable risk of serious injury. The tubes on this device could unravel during use, causing explosive material to escape out the side of the tube and injure bystanders. The defendants failed to report to CPSC this defective product, as required by law.