Melbourne Magistrates’ Court has found that a Moorabbin-based sporting goods, giftware and children’s toy importer and wholesaler supplied children’s toys in contravention of ban orders and safety standards.
The court found Bruce Bin Chen, operator of ‘Basal Sports & Tech’, contravened the Fair Trading Act 1999 by supplying the items. Consumer Affairs Victoria inspectors seized 3363 dangerous children’s toys during a search of a Moorabbin warehouse in October 2010.
Inspectors identified 12 different product lines that did not meet mandatory safety standards or comply with ban orders.
The seized toys, which posed choking, strangulation and projectile hazards, included:
wind-up toys
yo-yo balls
squeeze toy bath sets
drawing and writing board sets with removable components
‘dinosaur egg’ grow toys
toy guns
an over-sized baby bottle with lots of smaller toys inside
wind-up camels
a pressure sketch pad.
Mr Chen was ordered to pay $3000 in court costs and costs associated with destroying and disposing of the seized items. He was also required to pay for the publication of a product safety and recall notice in a local newspaper, alerting the public of the potential dangers of his products, and full refunds to any consumers returning the goods specified in the notice.
Mr Chen was also restrained from operating the business until an approved compliance program is implemented. He closed Basal Sports & Tech in June.