ACCC Chairman Expresses Concern for Product Safety
Wednesday 27 November 2013 @ 10.39 a.m. | Trade & Commerce
Australian Competition and Consumer Chairman (ACCC) Rod Sims has expressed concern about the number of retailers who appear to be supplying unsafe goods, particularly low value goods directly sourced from overseas, at the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organisation Asia-Pacific Symposium in the Gold Coast.
Mr Sims emphasised the enforcement options, including specific product safety provisions, which the ACCC has in place and will apply if retailers continue to contravene the law with regards to product designs and purchasing procedures:
“We are concerned by indications that some major retailers appear not to have satisfactory processes in place to meet their responsibility properly to ensure the safety of the goods they sell…To avoid contravening the consumer protection laws, retailers need to consider their processes so that they do not put unsafe goods on their shelves."
Mr Sims also expressed his assurance that recent law reforms such as the introduction of mandatory reporting requirement, has provided the ACCC with a national harmonised product safety regime and improved hazard identification processes. “Suppliers must now notify the ACCC of incidents they become aware of where a person has received a serious injury that they, or someone, associates with a consumer product. This notification is required within two days.”
He furthered said that Australians want affordable goods, but more than that consumers want to be safe, and want their children to be safe, when using these goods.
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