The Warehouse fined $200,000 for selling toy with choking risk

The Warehouse Ltd has been fined more than $200,000 for selling a toy with a choking risk to children under the age of three.

The Roo Crew Take-Apart Vehicle Toys were sold at The Warehouse from March 2021 before being recalled in January 2024. The retailer responded to the fine by releasing a statement denying the product was a danger and that "no child has ever been injured".

However, the Commerce Commission's head of fair trading and product safety investigations Simon Pope said the toys contained multiple small parts that presented a choking risk to children under 36 months.

"Multiple parts came off each variation of the toy, and they failed small parts testing," Pope said.

"While the toys did carry some warnings, they were labelled and marketed for use by children aged 36 months or under."

An investigation also found the toys had been displayed in an aisle alongside other toys "suitable for children aged five and under".

Toys that are designed, manufactured, labelled, or marketed for use by children under the age of three must comply with the product safety standard under the Fair Trading Act. This means they cannot have small parts or parts that could come off during play due to the risk of choking.

The Warehouse was ordered by the District Court to pay a fine of $234,000.

"We take our role in enforcing the standard seriously, and will act where we see non-compliance, which can have dire consequences," Pope said.

"Businesses should take steps to ensure the products they supply comply with legal requirements. Any labelling applied to the toy needs to align with the age appropriateness of the toy."

In a statement, a spokesperson for The Warehouse told 1News the toys were "safe all along and no child has ever been injured".

"The Commission’s key grievance was the packaging, not the toy itself. It related specifically to an image of a child who appeared to be under three years old, despite our clear and prominent age warnings on the packaging. We are grateful that the Court reached the same view on this."

The spokesperson added that the retail giant had "pursued this matter for more than two years, even though The Warehouse removed the safe toy from sale immediately".

"What is disappointing is that over that time, countless toys have been sold to Kiwi families by offshore online retailers, which have been shown to fall seriously short of New Zealand’s product safety requirements.

"The Warehouse has, and always will, treat the safety of our customers as a non‑negotiable priority."