Paddy Pallin Pty Ltd - s.87B undertaking

Paddy Pallin Pty Ltd, trading as Paddy Pallin, has provided a court enforceable undertaking to the ACCC in respect to representations concerning its down sleeping bags.

Paddy Pallin has represented to consumers that some of its down sleeping bags contain 100% down. It is widely acknowledged in the down products industry that it is highly unlikely that 100% down content could be achieved under normal commercial manufacturing processes.

ACCC testing of two Paddy Pallin sleeping bags represented as containing 100% down showed that one Paddy Pallin sleeping bag contained 73.5% down, while the other Paddy Pallin sleeping bag contained 86.8% down, both significantly short of the represented 100% down.

Paddy Pallin advised the ACCC that its 100% down content claims were made in reliance of its interpretation of the labelling percentage 'tolerances' allowed under Australian Standard 2479-1987 (Down and/or feather filling materials and filled products), and that it had not intended to mislead or deceive consumers.

Paddy Pallin has undertaken to:

• not promote that any of its sleeping bags or clothing items contain 100% down, given that normal commercial manufacturing processes are very unlikely to achieve this percentage of down content
• not make any down content percentage representations which include any percentage tolerance or allowance
• not make any down content percentage representations that it cannot substantiate by way of testing of its finished down products by an International Down & Feather Bureau accredited testing organisation
• place a corrective notice on its website for 3 months
• in conjunction with certain other outdoor product suppliers, place corrective newspaper advertisements in each State and Territory in which its sleeping bags have been sold
• implement and maintain a trade practices compliance program