Spectrum Brands and its dedicated personnel are deeply committed to providing consumers with quality products, excellent value and responsive service. Our goal is not just to comply with the laws and regulations that apply to our business, but to abide by the highest business ethics to achieve these objectives.
Spectrum Brands has a long history of proactive communications with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In this matter, for example, when Spectrum Brands determined that it had distributed a small number of recalled coffeemakers, it took immediate action to account for those products and report the matter to the Commission. Our track record demonstrates our support of the Commission’s mission to protect consumers from substantial hazards and unreasonable risks of injuries posed by products, including ours. In this case, the Commission is taking a position that is inconsistent and irreconcilable with its conclusions concerning the nature and degree of risk associated with similar products and similar quality issues.
In the interest of fundamental fairness, and in the face of the Commission’s inconsistent positions and arbitrary civil penalty demand, Spectrum Brands is compelled to defend its conduct in court. As a responsible member of the regulated community, Spectrum Brands will continue to demonstrate its commitment to consumers and will seek clarity from the Commission and the court in this matter about how the Commission has sought to enforce and should enforce the law.
In view of the pending litigation, Spectrum Brands will have no further comment at this time.