A joint Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission surveillance activity to test toys for unsafe lead levels has found full compliance with mandatory requirements.
“In the lead-up to Christmas, Customs and Border Protection and the ACCC conducted inspections at the ports of Melbourne and Sydney to prevent toys containing unsafe levels of lead and other toxic elements from entering the Australian market,” said Sharon Nyakuengama, Customs and Border Protection acting National Director of Trade and Compliance.
A total of 29 inspections and 837 individual tests were performed on 203 toys.
“All of the toys were found to comply with both Customs Prohibited Import Regulations, and the mandatory safety standard for lead and other toxic elements in toys and finger paints which is enforced by the ACCC,” Ms Nyakuengama said.
The types of toys targeted in the joint operation were children’s toys such as toy cars, figurines and dolls as well as finger and face paints.
“This is good news for Australian parents,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.
“The results are consistent with surveillance conducted by ACCC earlier in the year which found only one of the 95 products tested contained unsafe levels of lead,” Ms Court said.
“Importers and suppliers of toys that fail to meet minimum safety requirements are on notice that Australian government agencies can and do work together to ensure consumer safety, and particularly the safety of children,” Ms Court said.
“In addition to damaging their reputation, suppliers who import and sell unsafe toys risk financial penalties and costly legal action,” Ms Nyakuengama said.