Gemtime Nominees Pty Ltd - s.87B undertaking

Gemtime Nominees Pty Ltd (Gemtime) is registered in Western Australia and is a retailer  of consumer products.

In October 2008, as part of marketplace monitoring, ACCC staff purchased a packet of elastic luggage straps (“6 Pce Stretch Cord 12’18’24") from a retail outlet operated by Gemtime and located in Perth.

The products were imported into Australia by Coast to Coast Imports Pty Ltd. The product did not comply with the mandatory standard because the warning label was not permanently attached.

Gemtime had sold 6 units and had intended to sell more of the products prior to contact by the ACCC.

By supplying the product without a permanent warning label attached as required by the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standards) Regulations 1979, Gemtime has acknowledged that it contravened section 65C of the Trade Practices Act 1974.

The ACCC has accepted court enforceable undertakings from Gemtime that it:

• has ceased the supply of the non compliant elastic luggage strap;
• will conduct an audit of its range of products to identify any products that do not comply with the mandatory standard and, if any such products are found, ensure they are immediately withdrawn from sale;
• will cause an Information Notice to be displayed at the main service counter of each of the Bargain/Discount retail outlets that sold the product advising consumers that the product did not comply with the mandatory standard 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.