Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge today said fines and costs of $5,500 had been imposed by Parramatta Local Court on a Fairfield trader for supplying dangerous children’s toys.

Ms Judge said May Warehouse Variety Pty Ltd, trading as Warehouse Variety, pleaded guilty to four breaches of the Fair Trading Act.

“NSW Fair Trading found a one piece squeeze toy (yellow monkey), two and five piece squeeze toys and Aeronef brand toy planes all failed to meet the mandatory standards,” she said.

“Independent testing revealed these toys presented a choking hazard due to small parts.”

The Member for Fairfield, Joe Tripodi, said he was pleased to see Fair Trading inspectors looking after families’ interests by carrying out safety checks on toys in local outlets.

“One of the most important areas of product safety relates to children’s toys,” he said.

“There’s no place for poorly constructed toys in the marketplace.

“Consumers should have the confidence to walk into a store knowing that dangerous goods are not offered for sale.”

Ms Judge said product safety laws were designed to protect children from coming into contact with toys that pose a risk of injury.

“The court’s decision sends a strong message to suppliers that Fair Trading is active in the marketplace and will proceed to prosecution,” she said.

“Traders face fines of up to $110,000 for corporations and $22,000 for individuals.”

Ms Judge said that Fair Trading investigators would soon start their annual program of toy store inspections across the state in the lead-up to Christmas.

“This year’s inspection program will be bigger than last year’s, when Fair Trading inspectors visited 661 retail outlets in 163 towns and inspected more than half a million toys,” she said.

“More than 100 toys were removed from sale last year due to safety concerns.”

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