Washington, DC – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced that Nordica USA, of West Lebanon, N.H., has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $214,000 to resolve CPSC staff’s allegations that the ski distributor knowingly failed to report immediately to CPSC a safety defect and hazard with the XBi ALU Skis binding plates, as required by federal law.

The penalty agreement was provisionally accepted by the Commission by a vote of five to zero.

In Fall 2008, Nordica USA discovered that it had about 200 reports of warranty claims related to the XBi ALU Skis’ binding plates cracking and breaking. CPSC staff alleges that Nordica USA knew that XBi ALU Skis’ binding plates were defective and could cause harm, but failed to report this information immediately to CPSC. The binding plates could crack or break, causing skiers to lose control or fall and suffer injuries.

In February 2009, Nordica USA and CPSC announced the recall of about 4,500 pairs of skis. Neither Nordica USA nor CPSC is aware of any injuries resulting from the defect. Nationwide ski retailers sold the XBi ALU Skis between August 2006 and December 2008, for between $800 and $1,000.

Nordica USA denies CPSC staff allegations that it knowingly violated the law.

Federal law requires manufacturers, distributors and retailers to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect which could create a substantial product hazard, creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or fails to comply with any consumer product safety rule or any other rule, regulation, standard or ban enforced by CPSC.