A minister can issue a compulsory recall notice when they consider that the consumer goods:
- may injure someone, or using them in a 'reasonably foreseeable' way may injure someone
- do not comply with a safety standard, or
- are the subject of an interim or permanent ban.
The minister can only issue a compulsory recall notice if it appears a supplier has not taken satisfactory action to prevent the consumer goods injuring someone. However, unless there is an imminent danger to the public, the Commonwealth minister must issue a proposed recall notice giving suppliers an opportunity to request a conference with the ACCC.
What can a compulsory recall notice require?
A compulsory recall notice can require suppliers to do one or more of the following:
- recall the goods
- disclose to the public that the goods, or their use, are dangerous and the procedure for disposing of them
- inform the public that the supplier will replace the goods, repair the goods (unless they have a dangerous characteristic), or refund the purchase price
- how the supplier must take action
- deadlines for doing so.