explanatory Statement

Issued by the Authority of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer

Trade Practices Act 1974

Consumer Protection Notice No 1 of 2005

Amendment to Consumer Product Safety Standard:  Toys for Children up to and including 36 months of age

Paragraph 65E of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (the Act) provides that the Minister responsible for Consumer Affairs may, by notice in writing published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette declare that, in respect of goods of a kind specified in the notice, a particular standard, or a particular part of a standard, prepared or approved by Standards Australia International Limited, or such a standard or part of a standard with additions or variations specified in the notice, is  a consumer product safety standard for the purposes of section 65C of the Act.

Paragraph 65C(1)(a) of the Act provides that a corporation shall not, in trade or commerce, supply goods that are intended to be used, or are of a kind likely to be used, by a consumer, if the goods are of a kind in respect of which there is a consumer product safety standard and they do not comply with that standard.

Subsection 65C(2) of the Act provides that a regulation may, in respect of goods of a particular kind, prescribe a consumer product safety standard consisting of such requirements as are reasonably necessary to prevent or reduce risk of injury to any person.  These requirements may relate to: performance, composition, contents, methods of manufacture or processing, design, construction, finish or packaging of the goods; testing of the goods during, or after the completion of, manufacture or processing; and the form and content of markings, warnings or instructions to accompany the goods. 

The mandatory safety standard for toys for children up to and including 36 months of age, based on Australian/New Zealand AS/NZS ISO 8124.1:2002 was gazetted on 10 December 2003 to take effect from 17 December 2003.  To facilitate changeover to the new requirements the gazette notice also maintained Australian Standard 1647.2-1992 Children’s Toys (Safety Requirements) Part 2: Constructional Requirements from 17 December 2003 up to and including 30 June 2005.

The mandatory consumer safety standard for toys for children up to and including 36 months of age aims to reduce the risk of children under three years choking on toys, by ensuring that the toys meet small parts and performance criteria.  The standard includes testing requirements for which aim to simulate reasonably foreseeable abuse and damage to which the toys may be subjected.

Children under three years of age have not yet fully developed their reflexes to be capable of coughing out small items which they may place in their mouth.  Therefore, they are especially vulnerable to inhalation and ingestion hazards because they are incapable of recognising, and hence avoiding, these hazards.

The amendment provides an exemption for the following materials before and after subjecting the toy to the required tests:

• paper, books and other articles made from paper and pieces of paper;
• writing materials such as crayons, chalk, pencils and pens;
• modelling clay and similar products;
• fingerpaints, water colours, paint sets and paint brushes;
• fuzz;
• balloons;
• textile fabric;
• yarn;
• elastic and string.

These materials do not appear to present a hazard.  For example any plush toy currently on the market will release small threads or fuzz during a tension test, and these are not choking hazards to children.  However, without the amendment exempting these materials, plush toys for children under three could not be sold.

The amendment will be subject to the Legislative Instruments Act 2004.  That Act provides that all legislative instruments will cease to have effect after ten years.  Consequently it is unnecessary to include a sunset clause.