Look Direct International Pty Limited - s.87B undertaking

Look Direct International Pty Ltd supplies gift products, including cosmetic products, to retail outlets throughout Australia.

In July 2008, as part of marketplace monitoring, ACCC staff purchased a Look Direct International product from an Australia The Gift retail outlet located in Perth described on its packaging as “Tattoo Gel Pens 6 Pack”.

The product was also sold at Chickenfeed Bargain Stores retail outlets. The Product was supplied with a plastic container in the shape of the pens holding the six Gel Pens inserted into a cardboard sleeve. The ingredients of the product were not listed on the plastic container or on the cardboard sleeve.

By supplying the Product without a list of ingredients as required by the mandatory Cosmetics Standard, Look Direct International has acknowledged that the product breached the mandatory information standard for cosmetics and therefore contravened section 65D of the Trade Practices Act 1974.

Look Direct International has provided the ACCC with a section 87B Undertaking that it will:

• not supply the Tattoo Gel Pens 6 Pack unless it has the ingredients listed on the packaging
• conduct an audit of its range of products to identify any products that do not comply with the Cosmetics Standard and, if any products are found, ensure they are immediately withdrawn from sale by the retailer
• cause an Information Notice to be published in The Australian newspaper advising consumers that the product did not comply with the mandatory information standard for cosmetics and that the product should be returned to the retail outlet the product was purchased from for a full refund
• cause an Information Notice to be displayed at the main service counter of each of the Australia The Gift and Chickenfeed Bargain Stores retail outlets that sold the product advising consumers that the product did not comply with the mandatory information standard for cosmetics and offering consumers a full refund on return of the product, and
• develop and implement a trade practices compliance program which includes trade practices law compliance training for relevant staff and a corporate complaints handling system to ensure similar potential breaches of the Act do not occur in the future.