s. 65C. Alleged supply of goods in breach of mandatory consumer product safety standards
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Ausia Australia Pty Ltd and its directors after concerns that it had sold baby cots and baby walkers on its eBay website, Oz-Auction, that may not have complied with mandatory product safety standards.
Under the undertaking Ausia will:
complete a voluntary recall of the baby walkers and cots it sold through the Oz-Auction account
publish disclosure notices alerting parents to the dangers of buying products for children that do not meet product safety standards and reminding manufacturers/retailers of their obligations
implement and maintain a trade practices law compliance program for three years and three months.
ss. 53(a), 52, 53(c). Alleged false and misleading representations and misleading and deceptive conduct; falsely representing that goods are of a particular standard, quality, value, grade, composition, style or model or have had a particular history or particular previous use; representing that goods or services have sponsorship, approval, performance characteristics, accessories, uses or benefits they do not have
Claims about the vitamin C content of Ribena blackcurrant fruit drink products may have misled consumers, its manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline Australia Pty Limited (GSK Australia), has admitted.
GlaxoSmithKline self-reported the discrepancies to the ACCC and has provided court-enforceable undertakings.
GSK Australia has undertaken to the ACCC that in the future it will not:
make claims about the vitamin C content of Ribena Ready to Drink products, unless those claims can be substantiated by validated testing methods
make any express or implied representation that Ribena products contain four times the vitamin C of orange juice products
make any express or implied representation that Ribena products contain more vitamin C than orange juice products, unless the representations can be substantiated.
GSK Australia has also undertaken to the ACCC that it will:
publish a corrective notice that is to be placed in retail outlets selling Ribena fruit drinks, advising consumers of the allegedly misleading representations
publish corrective notices on Ribena websites advising consumers of the allegedly misleading representations
publish an educative article on the importance of being accurate when making representations to consumers and working cooperatively with the ACCC to resolve concerns
review, and implement recommended changes to, its trade practices law compliance program.
