SEATTLE - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has fined discount retailer Target Corp (TGT.N) $600,000 for allegedly violating a federal lead paint ban on toys.

The fine resolves allegations that from May 2006 through August 2007 Target imported and sold many toys like Happy Giddy gardening tools and Sunny Patch chairs with paint or other surface coatings with lead levels above legal limits, the CPSC said in a statement.

Target representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Lead-tainted toys, many of which were made in China, posed a huge issue for toymakers and retailers around two years ago, resulting in recalls and thousands of toys being yanked off store shelves.

Top toymaker Mattel Inc was fined $2.3 million earlier this year by the CPSC for violating a ban on bringing dangerous toys into the United States.

(Reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

China Target Toys