A mandatory standard applies to dummies designed specifically for babies and dummy chains and similar products intended to attach a baby’s dummy to his/her clothing.
If you sell these products, you are responsible for ensuring they meet the requirements of the mandatory safety standard Consumer Goods (Babies' Dummies and Dummy Chain) Safety Standard 2017 to reduce the risk of death or serious injury from strangulation or choking.
Non-compliant dummy chains are illegal to sell in Australia and must not be sold on MyDeal. As a seller on MyDeal, you are obliged to comply with these requirements. Failure to meet the requirements of the standard can result in suspension of offending products or your store, or termination of your store account from MyDeal. It can also result in enforcement action being taken by regulators against offending sellers, and MyDeal’s policy is to cooperate with regulators to identify sellers who do not comply with product safety requirements.
What’s covered by the standards?
Dummies, pacifiers, soothers and chains, straps or attachments used to attach them to babies, or their clothing are covered by the standard. The mandatory standard prescribes requirements for the design, construction and safety labelling of babies’ dummies and dummy chains and addresses hazards associated with unsafe decorations.
What’s required by the standards?
Sellers should refer to the full text of the standard to understand its detailed requirements and seek advice from professional product safety and compliance personnel where required.
There are specific requirements that need to be met in relation to:
- the shield;
- ring;
- handle and plug;
- teat strength;
- decorations;
- packaging;
- product identification;
- warning label; and
- instructions.
Understand your obligations
Sellers need to understand the requirements of the standard to ensure their products comply. For more information on dummies and dummy chain standards, see the ACCC’s Product Safety page here.
Ensure your products comply with the standard.
You must ensure any products to which the standard applies that you sell or intend to sell on MyDeal comply with the standard. If sellers fail to ensure they are compliant with the new standards, they risk being banned from selling any products on MyDeal, as well as having regulatory action taken against them.
Report serious injuries or deaths
If you become aware of any serious injury, illness or deaths associated with the products you supply, you must submit a mandatory report to the ACCC within 2 days to comply with the mandatory reporting obligations required by the Australian Consumer Law. You must also notify MyDeal of any reported in
Failure to make a mandatory report may attracts fines and pecuniary penalties of up to $16,650 for a body corporate or $3,330 for a person other than a body corporate.
Sellers who fail to comply with their legal obligations also risk being banned from selling any products on MyDeal.
More information
The ACCC Product Safety Australia website contains detailed information about Australia's product safety system.
There is also a dedicated resource which the ACCC has developed for online sellers. You can also subscribe on the website to receive product safety email updates from the ACCC.
If you would like more information or clarification regarding this letter, you can contact the ACCC directly via the Product Safety Australia website enquiry form.