Published
Shortly after the ACCC's first round of consultation with stakeholders in April 2012 in reviewing the mandatory product safety standard for baby walkers, ASTM published a more recent version of the voluntary standard that the mandatory standard is based on.
The current mandatory standard, Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standard) (Baby Walkers) Regulations 2002, references parts of voluntary standard ASTM F977-00 Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Infant Walkers. Since April, ASTM has revised the standard and released the updated version ASTM F977-12.
The ACCC has amended the draft revised mandatory standard to reflect the recent change, and again invites written submissions from stakeholders.
Changes in this draft
The draft created after the first round of consultation refers to ASTM F977-11b (the latest version from ASTM at the time); the ACCC has now amended this draft to refer to ASTM F977-12. This change will have a minor impact on the revised mandatory standard, because one of the clauses referred to, clause 7.3.2.4, was amended in ASTM F977-12. The amendment is a small modification to the procedure for testing forward tip resistance.
The other change in this latest draft is a different date for phasing out the option for complying with the older ASTM F977-00. Following feedback from the first round of consultation, this date has been brought forward from 1 April 2014 to 1 December 2013.
The draft is available below to download in PDF format and there is also a HTML version. ASTM F977-12 is available for purchase from the ASTM website.
Contact details
Submissions
Stakeholders are invited to make written submissions on the proposed regulation by 10 August 2012.
All submissions should be sent to the ACCC either by email to: productsafety.regulation@accc.gov.au
Alternatively, submissions can be mailed to:
Director— Education and Regulated Goods
Product Safety Branch
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
GPO Box 3131
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Attached documents
Baby walkers - Draft regulation for 2nd stakeholder consultation - July 2012 ( PDF 32.49 KB )