Matthew Mason-Cox med rel: Toy safety education program targets toys in discount store

NSW Fair Trading Minister, Matthew Mason-Cox, today launched a multicultural education program to assist traders understand their rights and obligations under Australian Consumer Law when selling toys in discount stores.

“The aim of the campaign is to create awareness among retailers to ensure that the toys they sell are safe and come with a consumer guarantee,’’ said Mr Mason-Cox.

“Cheap should not mean unsafe.

“We want everyone to have a happy and safe Christmas and so in the lead up to the festive period, we are working closely with retailers across the state to inform them about the dangers and penalties of selling unsafe toy products.”

Selling banned and unsafe toys is against the law in Australia and companies engaging in this activity could be fined up to $1.1 million.

The campaign forms part of a national product safety strategy jointly implemented by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and State and Territory product safety regulators.

“A large number of owners of small and medium enterprises in the discount sector speak a language other than English as their first language,” said Mr Mason-Cox.

“That is why we have also targeted multicultural media to ensure all sectors of the community, who may be engaged in selling unsafe products, are informed of their obligations under Australian Consumer Law.”

A series of advertisements on community radio and in newspapers has begun.

Two fact sheets that have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, English, Indonesian, Korean and Vietnamese are also available via the NSW Fair Trading website, as well as lists of banned toys.

NSW Fair Trading’s annual inspection of toy retailers is scheduled to take place in the coming weeks, to ensure the toys on the shelves for sale in the lead up to Christmas are safe and compliant.