Undertaking date

Undertaking type

s.87B undertaking

Reference number

D16/158195

Section

Sections 106(1), 18, 29(1)(a), 29(1)(g) and 33

Company or individual details

  • Name

    Zen Sensation Pty Ltd

    ACN

    147 387 255

Undertaking

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Zen Sensation (Zen) in relation to the supply of TS Blue and TS Gold cigarettes which did not comply with the mandatory Reduced Fire Risk Standard (the RFR Standard). Zen has admitted that this supply was likely to contravene section 106(1) of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). The undertaking also relates to Zen’s claims about the compliance of those cigarettes with the RFR Standard. Zen has also admitted that these claims were likely to contravene sections 18, 29(1)(a), 29(1)(g) and 33 of the ACL.

Zen was an importer and wholesaler of TS branded cigarettes, which were manufactured overseas under its instructions. Zen has stopped importing and supplying cigarettes and does not currently intend to enter that market again.

To comply with the RFR Standard, cigarettes are manufactured such that, when lit and left unattended, they go out by themselves. Some batches of TS Blue and TS Gold cigarettes failed laboratory testing for compliance with the RFR Standard, while others passed. All TS cigarettes, including the non-compliant cigarettes, were supplied in packets which stated that they complied with the RFR Standard (the compliance statement).

Zen supplied a total of 20 million TS Blue cigarettes and 4.5 million TS Gold cigarettes. The number of non-compliant cigarettes that Zen supplied is unknown. The manufacturer did not keep records which might have allowed the number of non-compliant cigarettes to be identified. Zen did not arrange laboratory testing of any TS cigarettes before being contacted by the ACCC. Zen voluntarily recalled all TS cigarettes.

To address the ACCC’s concerns, Zen has provided the ACCC with a section 87B undertaking that it will not supply cigarettes unless:

  • The manufacturer keep records of how and when the cigarettes are manufactured

  • Each packet of the cigarettes includes a batch number that can be matched to those records

  • Samples of the cigarettes are laboratory tested for compliance with the RFR Standard before being supplied and at least every six months after that

  • Zen keeps records of the manufacturing, batch numbers and test results for at least three years after supplying the cigarettes