Undertaking date

Undertaking end date

Undertaking type

s.87B undertaking

Section

Sections 106(1) and 136(1) of the Australian Consumer Law

Industry

Novelty products
Button batteries

Company or individual details

  • Name

    Dusk Australasia Pty Ltd

    ABN

    45 090 850 383

Undertaking

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Dusk Australasia Pty Ltd (Dusk).

This undertaking relates to alleged contraventions of sections 106(1) and 136(1) of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), contained in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA).

Between 30 August and 27 October 2022 Dusk supplied 7,720 units of 4 Halloween-themed LED products containing button batteries to consumers:

  • Enchanted Pumpkin Stack;
  • Morticia;
  • Sookie Skull; and
  • Salem and Freddy,

(collectively, the Products).

Consumer goods supplied to consumers in Australia, in trade or commerce, that contain a button battery must comply with the Consumer Goods (Products Containing Button/Coin Batteries) Safety Standard 2020 (Safety Standard) and Consumer Goods (Button/Coin Batteries) Information Standard 2020 (Information Standard).

Dusk has admitted that the Products it supplied failed to comply with sections 8 and 9 of the Safety Standard and section 8 of the Information Standard, and that this conduct is likely to have contravened sections 106(1) and 136(1) of the ACL. Specifically, the ACCC considered that:

  • the Products did not comply with the Safety Standard because they had not been tested in accordance with the requirements of the Safety Standard to ensure they were safe prior to supply to consumers.
  • the Products did not comply with the Information Standard because they were supplied to consumers without the required warnings about the risks posed by button batteries as required by the Information Standard.

As a result of the ACCC’s investigation and in response to the ACCC’s concerns Dusk provided the ACCC with a section 87B undertaking that it will:

  • not supply consumer goods containing button batteries if those goods do not comply with the Safety Standard and Information Standard
  • establish and implement a Compliance Program designed to minimise Dusk’s risk of future breaches of the ACL.

The compliance program offered by Dusk includes appointing a compliance officer, issuing a compliance policy and compliance reports, staff training and providing compliance program documents to the ACCC.

Dusk has also paid 8 Infringement Notices with a total penalty of $106,560 issued by the ACCC under section 134A of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA).

Dusk also initiated a voluntary recall of the Products.