Melbourne Magistrates’ Court has ordered a Moorabbin wholesaler and its director to pay a $25,000 penalty for supplying dangerous toys.
The court found Silk Road Trading (Aust) Pty Ltd and company director Shaole Wu imported, offered for sale and sold toys that breached Australian Consumer Law product safety requirements.
The toys, seized by Consumer Affairs Victoria inspectors on 3 September 2012, included:
- 94 ‘Mickey Happy Turning’ battery-operated plastic toys. These did not meet the mandatory safety standard that applies to toys for children aged up to 36 months. The toys had small parts and children could open the battery compartment. Batteries and small parts can choke small children, and batteries can cause severe injuries if swallowed
- 186 baby rattles with wooden handles, flashing lights and beads. The wooden handle was found to be of a shape and size that posed a risk to children
- 355 ‘Puffer Ball Frog’ spiky rubber yo-yo balls and 264 rat-shaped rubber yo-yo balls. These were soft synthetic objects with a cord capable of stretching more than 500 millimetres. Such toys are banned as the cord can strangle a child and the synthetic object can contain dangerous liquids
- 57 ‘Kaideli SRY’ bow and arrow sets. These were not labelled or marked to alert users to the risk of serious injury if the toy was aimed at someone’s eyes or face. These labelling requirements are part of the Projectile Toy Safety Standard.
On 15 November 2013, the court ordered that Silk Road and Shaole Wu:
- pay a civil pecuniary penalty of $6,250 for each type of toy listed above – a total of $25,000 – to the Victorian Consumer Law Fund
- publish a public notice in the Moorabbin Leader, on Silk Road’s website and in its business premises
- voluntarily recall all the identified toys
- pay full refunds for all returned goods identified in the public notice
- pay costs of $2,465
- implement a product safety compliance program within 60 days.
The court also restrained the company and its director from supplying products subject to mandatory information or safety standards, or interim or permanent ban orders.
They were also ordered to pay for the destruction and disposal of the seized goods.
You can check a licencee's current status via our Search public registers page.