Review of the Australian Consumer Product Safety System

Contents

Preliminaries
Cover, Copyright, Foreword, Terms of reference, Contents, Abbreviations and explanations, Key points, Overview, Findings and recommendations

1 Introduction
1.1 Background to the study
1.2 Scope of the study
1.3 The Commission’s assessment framework
1.4 Conduct of the study

2 Policy principles
2.1 Safety and its trade–offs
2.2 Markets and consumer product safety
2.3 Market imperfections
2.4 Living with risk: private responses to unsafe products
2.5 The role of government
2.6 Existing government responses
2.7 Improving government intervention
2.8 Good regulation
2.9 Compliance and enforcement
2.10 Summing up

3 Legal framework
3.1 The product safety provisions
3.2 Product liability arrangements

4 Evaluation of the current system
4.1 Are there sufficient incentives and constraints to encourage the supply of safe consumer products?
4.2 What is the incidence and cost of consumer product-related injury?
4.3 There is significant scope to improve the regulation of consumer product safety
4.4 The broader impacts of the consumer product safety system
4.5 Summing up

5 General safety provision
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Experience with general safety requirements
5.3 Defining safety and demonstrating compliance
5.4 Potential benefits of a GSP
5.5 Potential costs associated with a GSP
5.6 Would a GSP deliver net benefits?

6 Foreseeable use
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Current approach — TPA
6.3 Alternative approaches
6.4 Participants’ views
6.5 How should reasonably foreseeable use be defined?
6.6 Costs and benefits of including foreseeable use
6.7 Conclusion

7 Services and second-hand goods
7.1 Services
7.2 Second-hand goods

8 Safety criteria and thresholds
8.1 Factors to consider in determining safety thresholds
8.2 How should safety thresholds be harmonised?

9 Improved information for hazard identification and risk assessment
9.1 Current information sources and problems
9.2 Early warning information
9.3 Better use of complaints data
9.4 Business monitoring and reporting
9.5 The role of research

10 Better informed consumers and businesses
10.1 The context
10.2 Informing consumers
10.3 Informing suppliers

11 Removing unsafe goods
11.1 The current recall system
11.2 Requirement for businesses to recall unsafe products
11.3 Recall audit power

12 Design and standards
12.1 The role of design in reducing injury
12.2 The role of standards in improving design
12.3 The way forward

13 National approaches
13.1 Why greater national consistency is warranted
13.2 What areas should be harmonised?
13.3 How should harmonisation be achieved?
13.4 The ACCC’s role
13.5 Summing up

A Submissions and meetings

B Inconsistencies between jurisdictions
B.1 Inconsistencies in legislation
B.2 Inconsistencies in the adoption of standards, bans and recalls
B.3 Inconsistencies in enforcement
B.4 Summary

C Product-related injury: incidence and cost issues
C.1 Incidence: injuries and deaths caused by consumer products
C.2 Cost of product-related injury

D International approaches
D.1 The European General Product Safety Directive (GPSD)
D.2 The US Consumer Product Safety Commission

E Alternative regulatory models
E.1 General safety provisions
E.2 Cooperation between governments

References