G & R Wills Holdings Pty Ltd - s.87B undertaking

The ACCC has accepted a section 87B Undertaking from G & R Wills Holdings Pty Ltd ACN 097 284 083 in respect of the supply of baby walkers, and the offer to supply of two models of strollers, which did not comply with the relevant mandatory product safety standards as outlined below.

The HAB-0017 Baby Walker

• G & R Wills supplied 1,307 model HAB-0017 Baby Walkers to 93 remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory
• The Baby Walkers did not have a braking mechanism to prevent them falling down stairs and did not have the required warning labels, and would therefore fail to meet the relevant product safety standard, specifically:
• the Baby Walkers did not have a braking mechanism to prevent them from moving if one or more of the wheels came off a horizontal plane; and
• the Baby Walkers did not have the required warning labels.

The strollers

• G & R Wills supplied or offered to supply the Cellular Baby Stroller and the Fashion Children’s Trolley  Stroller (the Strollers) to remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory
• The Strollers did not display the mandatory general warning label and the Strollers’ harnesses displayed an incorrect warning label.

G & R Wills Holdings Pty Ltd admitted that the above conduct contravened sections 106(1) and (2) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

The ACCC was particularly concerned about this conduct as G & R Wills continued to supply the Baby Walkers after the date on which they were first made aware of potential non compliance with the safety standards.

To address the ACCC's concerns G & R Wills Holdings Pty Ltd provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking which also requires G & R Wills Holdings Pty Ltd to undergo trade practices law compliance training. G & R Wills Holdings were also issued with three infringement notices in relation to this conduct.