Kiwis are being reminded by the Commerce Commission to be vigilant about toy safety this Christmas, after two companies were charged with supplying non-compliant toys.
It comes as the commission filed charges earlier this month against ZME Advisory Limited, previously owned by online-retailer GrabOne.co.nz, and PKD Group Limited, previously trading as Bits‘n’Bytes, which supplied magnetic puzzle toys commonly known as buckyballs.
The commission alleges the companies supplied the magnetic toys despite being subject to an unsafe goods notice which prohibited the sale of small high-powered magnets sold in sets of two or more due to the safety risk they pose.
“We took this case because unsafe goods notices are issued to prevent the sale of products that could cause serious harm to New Zealanders – no matter what their age,” the Commerce Commission’s general manager of fair trading, Vanessa Horne said in a statement today.
“In this case, if more than one small magnet is swallowed, there is a chance surgery will be required to remove them.”
The Commerce Commission said swallowing similar magnets can lead to "serious, life-long health complications, or fatality". (Source: 1News)
Horne said swallowing similar magnets can lead to “serious, life-long health complications, or fatality”.
The commission is also encouraging people to check the size and durability of toys for children aged three or under, and ensuring that battery compartments are not easily accessible by young children.
“Toys for children three or under must not be small enough to swallow and they must not have parts that could be removed and swallowed. They also need to be robust enough to take the knocks they get when children play with them so that small pieces do not break off and create a choking hazard," she said.
“If parents or caregivers are concerned that a toy doesn’t comply, they should stop the child playing with it immediately, return the toy to the seller and inform the Commerce Commission via our website. We assess every complaint that comes through, and product safety is a priority for us.”
Since 2017, the Commission has prosecuted 30 businesses and issued 32 warnings relating to the supply of 159 non-compliant products, of which 94 were toys.
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