| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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| February 27, 1981 |
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| Release # 81-009 |
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Stuffed Teddy Bear Toy Animals Recalled To Eliminate Safety Hazards
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 27) -- An estimated 23,000 children's stuffed teddy bears distributed nationwide by a New York importer are being recalled by the importer in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission because the toys may present safety hazards which could injure young children.
Testing of the toy animals by CPSC showed that a substantial percentage of the noses and eyes of the teddy bears could be pulled off easily, thus posing a potential choking hazard. The tests, simulating normal use and abuse of the toys by a young child, were performed on a random sample of the teddy bears; they have been determined to be "banned hazardous substances" under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.
The teddy bears were manufactured in Korea and distributed nationwide to toy stores by Far East International, Inc., of New York City. Product code tags on the potentially hazardous toys are numbered 202-50, 202-94, 202-95 or 202-219. Another label sewn to the leg of each teddy bear reads "Sunkyung Limited. Made in Korea."
Consumers are being urged to mail their children's teddy bears directly to Far East International at 1182 Broadway, Room 901, New York, New York, 10001. The company will provide full refunds or another toy animal of comparable value and will reimburse consumers for mailing costs.
The importer also will alert each of its retail customers to the safety hazards and to the procedures to be followed in carrying out the recall. The company has stopped making further shipments of these teddy bears.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the product on SaferProducts.gov
CPSC is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $900 billion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals - contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @OnSafety or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters.