ACCC Eyes Recall Effectiveness in 2016 Plan

The effectiveness of companies' recall actions are among items mentioned in the just-available 2016 ACCC Compliance and Enforcement Policy. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) otherwise emphasized it will "always prioritise" product safety issues. The plan addresses its full jurisdiction which extends into other areas.

The seven-page document (bit.ly/1Qq5he3) was broad based, allowing for only sparse details. Thus product safety explicitly arose only four times, including as an overarching theme and in noting that other agencies also have safety jurisdiction. However, other issues apply to the topic such as focus on stopping and remedying problematic conduct.

Meanwhile, ACCC Chairman Rod Sims, in a coinciding speech (bit.ly/21bDYXS) emphasized that he sees the agency's product safety ability as flexible and adaptable, relying on more than explicit product safety rules. He pointed to the recent judgement against Woolworths (PSL¸ 2/15/16) involving ACCC allegations (PSL, 9/22/14) of false or misleading representation about the safety of products. That was under provisions of general Australian consumer law.

Top product-specific focus during the year, he said, likely would be on button batteries, ATVs, and the ongoing Infinity cable recall. On the last, the agency is concerned that the underlying problem – premature insulation brittleness – will occur in many units in 2016, leading to fires. March 2, it issued a related plea for consumers to act (bit.ly/1QugRmi).