Pacific Magazines Pty Limited - s.87B undertaking

Pacific Magazines Pty Ltd the publisher of Marie Claire a woman’s fashion magazine has given court enforceable undertakings under section 87B of the Trade Practices Act 1974 to the ACCC, in relation to the supply of fashion sunglasses which failed to comply with the prescribed mandatory standard based on AS/NZS 1067:2003 Sunglasses and fashion spectacles.

The sunglasses (available with black or brown frames) were supplied as a free gift with the February edition of Marie Claire, complementing the magazines ‘sunsmart campaign’.

It was apparent that the sunglasses initially failed the labelling requirements of the standard as they did not display the identity of the manufacturer, the lens category number, and applicable lens description. Once advised of this concern Pacific Magazines promptly addressed this issue.

Concurrently testing was performed on the sunglasses. Results showed that some of the brown sunglasses failed the performance requirements of the standard because:

• some of the brown sunglasses failed the spectral transmittance requirements of the sunglasses standard. The identified deficiency indicated that some wearers may fail to recognise certain colours, in particular flashing blue light emitting diode (LED) signals and, for those with colour deficiencies the recognition of green traffic signals may be affected. Consequently the sunglasses should have been labelled ‘MUST NOT BE USED FOR DRIVING”; and
• some of the brown sunglasses failed the lens matching requirements of the sunglasses standard. Resulting in the possibility that due to uneven or unequal lens tints, the wearer may have difficulty judging the depth of moving objects.

Pacific Magazines took immediate measures to address ACCC concerns by;

• voluntarily recalling the brown sunglasses;
• posting a recall notice on their website;
• offering consumers the option of returning the brown sunglasses via free post for a replacement pair of the black fashion sunglasses;
• undertaking to publish an educative piece about the importance of sunglasses safety and reviewing it’s trade practices compliance procedures.