The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Super Toyworld for breach of the mandatory product safety standard for bicycles.
Super Toyworld has agreed to:
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stop selling bicycles that do not meet the standard
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place an advertisement in the Northern Territory News offering to fix any bicycles sold by Super Toyworld to ensure the bicycles meet the standard
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to put in place a substantial trade practices compliance program
During a recent product safety survey of bicycle retailers in Darwin and Palmerston the ACCC found that some of Super Toyworld's bicycles did not comply with the mandatory product safety standard for bicycles.
In an earlier survey, Super Toyworld had been warned about non-compliance with the standard.
The faults found were in the assembly of the bicycles. The bicycles were missing bells or warning devices, owner's manuals, reflectors and the end protectors of brake cables.
"Some of the faults had the potential to cause serious injury to riders", ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels, said today. "In particular the brake cables could unravel and slip out of the brake mechanism and motorists not seeing riders at night because of lack of reflectors on their bicycles".
When advised of the faults, Super Toyworld acted quickly to ensure that all bike mechanics were fully aware of the product safety standard.
Super Toyworld has advised the ACCC that now all bicycles sold from the floor are checked by a bike mechanic and then again by the cashier to ensure that the bicycles sold to consumers comply with the product safety standard.
"The ACCC affords a high priority to its product safety and information's standards responsibilities because of the potential of injury to consumers if the products do not comply with the standards", Professor Fels said.
All suppliers whether at the wholesale or retail level, must ensure that their goods and services meet the relevant mandatory product safety standards. Penalties for the breaches of product safety and product information include monetary penalties up to $1 million for companies and $200,000 for individuals.
Further, selling defective products exposes manufacturers or importers should the product cause injury to anyone while being used.
The mandatory product safety standard for bicycles is available from Standards Australia. An information booklet on bicycles is available from all ACCC offices or from the website.