Christchurch retailer fined over unsafe toy

21 June 2007

Christchurch retailer fined over unsafe wooden toys

A retailer has been fined $12,000 over unsafe wooden toys sold by Notty Horse Wooden Toys in Christchurch’s South City Mall. He was also required to pay $1,150 in costs to the Commission.

Leo’s Leisure Products Ltd, trading as Notty Horse Wooden Toys, was found guilty in the Christchurch District Court of five breaches of the Product Safety Standards (Children’s Toys) Regulations 2005.

Labels claimed the wooden “baby mobile” and rattle were suitable for infants aged 0 – 2 years, but testing found that small parts of the toys were easily broken off, presenting a choking hazard.

“Babies are our most vulnerable consumers, which is why there are strict safety standards in place to protect them,” says Commerce Commission Director of Fair Trading Deborah Battell.

“It is illegal to manufacture, import or sell toys that do not meet the Regulations and anyone wanting to trade in children’s toys needs to understand the law and make sure they comply.”

The Commission investigated when a woman complained to the Commission after buying a toy as a gift for her grandson. The boy’s mother noticed the toy had broken, and found her son had a one-centimetre-diameter ball from the toy in his mouth.

After receiving the complaint, the Commission purchased a number of toys from the shop and had them tested. All were easily broken, and had small parts that could be broken off and present a choking hazard.

In December 2006, the Commission told Leo’s Leisure products about its investigation and test results, and suggested a product recall. A product recall was published in the Christchurch Press on 19 January 2007. Approximately 20 toys in total were returned after the recall notice, and the customers were refunded.

Ms Battell says that Leo’s Leisure Products had previously entered into a settlement with the Commission in relation to an unsafe toy in November 2005.

“The Commerce Commission expects all companies to comply with product safety regulations. We will not hesitate to prosecute companies that have been previously warned or that have previously admitted beaching the regulations.”

“This company knew about the Regulations and while it is appropriate that the toys were immediately removed from sale and a product recall issued, this should not have been necessary.”

“Traders should not take chances with any products aimed at babies. They must be 100% certain that their products meet the Toy Safety Regulations and are safe to use.”

Background

Safety standards for toys – small parts. The standard requires that toys intended for use by children under three should not be small enough to be inhaled or swallowed, or have small parts that can be removed or broken off, and then inhaled or swallowed. A measuring device similar to a 35 millimetre film canister is used to measure objects: as a rule of thumb, any item small enough to fit in a 35mm film canister is a choking hazard for children under three.

Dangerous toys from Notty Horse. The dangerous toys were wooden rattles with balls on strings, wooden rattles with circles and a blue and yellow moon shape, wooden rattles with arched handles, and wooden rattles with coloured beads on strings.

site www.comcom.govt.nz

© Scoop Media