Big Save Sued for Importing Hazardous Children's Products

August 1, 1996

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For Immediate Release;
Contact: Eric Rubel
(301) 504-0980 Ext.2299

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that with the Department of Justice it is suing Big Save International Corp. of Los Angeles, Calif., an importer and wholesaler of children's products. Between 1991 and 1995, Big Save imported more than 70,000 banned or mislabeled products including bicycles, baby walkers, pacifiers, rattles, toys, and crayons.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeks civil penalties and an injunction. It charges that the firm and its owner and president, Daniel Yang, ignored numerous notices of violations from CPSC between 1990 and 1994. Despite the notices, which included warnings of penalties, the firm continued to import products that violated the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and the CPSC's safety regulations.

"The repeated safety violations for the children's products in this case are inexcusable," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "No firm will be permitted to profit by cutting corners on the safety of our most precious and most vulnerable consumers."

The banned products included toys, pacifiers, and rattles that separated into small parts when tested and posed a choking hazard to young children. The products also included bicycles lacking the required foot brakes on their rear wheels and accompanying safety and maintenance instructions. All of the products involved in the lawsuit were either stopped by the U.S. Customs Service before they could enter the country or recalled.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission protects the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury and for information on CPSC's fax-on-demand service, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270. To order a press release through fax-on-demand, call (301) 504-0051 from the handset of your fax machine and enter the release number. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's web site at http://www.cpsc.gov or via Internet gopher services at cpsc.gov. Consumers can report product hazards toinfo@cpsc.gov.