QLD: Brisbane importer fined $75 000 for unsafe toys and cosmetics

Published

A Brisbane imports company and its director have been fined a total of $75 000 in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court (2 April 2013) for stocking unsafe toys and cosmetics.

Sunrise Imports Pty Ltd and its director Xibo Zhu pleaded guilty to four charges relating to eight products that did not meet safety standards.

Fair Trading product safety officers attended Sunrise Imports’ Browns Plains warehouse and seized four children’s toy lines; a duck pull-toy, a plastic baby rattle, a timber baby rattle and a rubber band projectile airplane.

The toys were tested and it was found the duck toy and rattles released small parts that are a choking hazard for small children.

The airplane toy did not meet the standard for projectile toys as it had an uncovered metal propeller with a point that could injure a child.

The cosmetic products; a powder cake, eye shadow and two different temporary tattoos, did not list their ingredients as required by law.

The court heard Sunrise Imports supplied products to retailers, and also sold directly to the public from their warehouse and online.

The court also heard the company and Mr Zhu had a long history of non-compliance with requests from the Office of Fair Trading to bring their products into line with mandatory standards.

A conviction was recorded against the company, and Mr Zhu was also ordered to pay $2,700 in legal and product testing costs.

This prosecution was a result of the Office of Fair Trading’s ‘Operation Importer’, which focused product safety compliance activities on traders importing unsafe goods into the country.

Other prosecutions resulting from the operation include Brisbane company MPSB Imports Pty Ltd and its director Hoa Huynh being fined a total of $46,000 in March 2013 for stocking unlabelled cosmetics.

Approximately 128,000 unsafe or non-compliant items were removed from sale nationally due to the operation.

For more information on product safety visit the Office of Fair Trading website at www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au or call 13 QGOV (13 74 68).

Contact details

Media contact: Liz Costello, (07) 3247 5965

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/fairtradingqld

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/fairtradingqld

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/fairtradingqld

Product category

Is this page useful?