New mandatory safety standard for prams and strollers
A new Trade Practices Act mandatory safety standard for prams and strollers was registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments on 2 July 2007 (F2007L01895). The standard aims to reduce the incidence of injuries to infants by requiring that prams and strollers supplied in Australia comply with key parts of Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 2088:2000, Prams and strollers—safety requirements. The mandatory safety requirements include the provision of a restraining harness, parking brake and tether strap and the elimination of entrapment gaps. The standard takes effect on 1 July 2008.
Basketball rings and backboards
Through recent ACCC product safety surveys, poor compliance levels with the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standard) (Basketball Rings and Backboards) Regulations 2005 (the regulations) have been identified.
The regulations were introduced after it was discovered inappropriate installation and misuse, rather than the products themselves, were leading to injuries.
Slam dunking has been identified as one of the leading causes of injury. It involves a basketball player leaping at the goal ring and putting the ball through the ring, momentarily holding on to the ring after ‘dunking’ the ball. This places excessive strain on the ring as the player’s full body weight hangs from the ring and is carried by the supporting fixture or backboard. Deaths and many injuries have occurred from players performing ‘slam dunks’ with the structure supporting the basketball ring collapsing on top of them. The slam dunk is particularly hazardous when performed on an incorrectly installed basketball ring and backboard. For example, basketball rings installed on garage walls may not be able to support the player’s weight, making hanging or swinging on the ring extremely dangerous.
Under the mandatory standard, basketball rings and backboards must be labelled with a specific warning advising users that improper installation or swinging on the basketball ring may cause serious injury or death. The mandatory standard applies to basketball rings and backboards requiring installation and therefore does not apply to toy basketball rings and backboards. All suppliers of basketball rings and backboards, including importers, wholesalers and retailers, are required to comply with the mandatory standard.
In an effort to increase compliance levels, the ACCC placed a full-page advertisement in the July 2007 edition of SportsLink magazine advising suppliers of basketball rings and backboards of their obligation to comply with the regulations. SportsLink is the sporting goods industry magazine and is distributed to over 5000 importers, wholesalers and retailers across Australia.
Consumer publications
In July the ACCC released a Somali version of the consumer publication Know how to complain. The publication will soon be available in Amharic (Ethiopian), Arabic, Vietnamese and Chinese languages.
The free guide sets out your rights as a consumer, the steps you should take if you want to resolve a dispute with a business, what the ACCC can do to assist, and other agencies and dispute resolution schemes that can help.
The ACCC continues to educate those in the horticulture industry about their rights and obligations under the Horticulture Code of Conduct, which came into effect on 14 May 2007 as a prescribed mandatory code of conduct under the Trade Practices Act. The code regulates the trade of horticulture produce between growers and wholesale traders.
In particular, ACCC Chairman Mr Graeme Samuel noted last week that horticulture growers and traders have responded positively to ACCC warnings to toe the line on the Horticulture Code of Conduct.
'After liaison with the ACCC, a number of central markets, chambers, individual traders and growers amended agreements to remove non-compliant clauses. But some growers and traders continue to ignore the warnings.
The ACCC continues to investigate complaints about non-compliant agreements. It will not hesitate to take enforcement action against those who continue in a non-compliant manner.'
The ACCC will further liaise with growers, traders and their associations to promote compliance with the Horticulture Code. It encourages all growers and traders to only enter into horticulture produce agreements that are compliant with the Horticulture Code.
During July the ACCC continued to liaise with key industry stakeholders about their rights and obligations under the Oilcode. The ACCC received a number of complaints and inquiries about the Oilcode and assisted parties to understand their rights and obligations by giving them guidance and compliance materials. This past month the ACCC released a suite of Oilcode-specific fact sheets and articles aimed at assisting people in the industry to understand their rights and obligations on topics such as disclosure in fuel re-selling agreements, termination of fuel re-selling agreements and dispute resolution.
In the coming months the ACCC will continue to provide information and guidance to the industry. The ACCC will also continue to respond to complaints and inquiries and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where it is necessary to achieve compliance with the code.
For more information please visit www.accc.gov.au/oilcode or contact the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502.
