topic Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read in Selling

Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

cable_mart — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 10:09:47 GMT

As an Australian manufacturer and distributor i would like to point out some of the laws which are required to be obeyed by if you are distributiing goods inside australia or from outside of australia in to local customers.

1. Electrical Compliance

All goods that are sold in australia that are electrical in nature must be certified for C-Tick standards, Which means your product must be approved prior to selling it in this country. Penalties start from $1320 per item sold and you may be liable for criminal prosecution under part 4 of the crimes act (deception offences)

Items include: Household electrical goods, Power Tools, Car Entertainment items (stereos,dvd players, screen etc)

2. Telecommunications Compliance.

All items that have the ability to directly or indirectly connect to a public switched telephone network MUST be tested and certified prior to being sold in this country (A-Tick). Penalties start from $1320 per item and up to $13,200 if found to be of commercial quantity. penalties also include being prosecuted by deception offences under the crimes act.

Items include, cabling products, networking products, wireless products, modems/routers etc

Here is a scenario as to why you should never supply illegal goods to customers:

A Customer purchases a toaster off ebay,and the toaster appears to work well. Whilst the customer is away from home, the toaster has an insulation fault and the toaster catches fire due to arcing wires. As a result the customers home burns down.

Fire inspectors find the toaster to be the cause of the fire and the insurance assessors researches the toaster and finds it was a non compliant item. The insurance company refuses to pay the insurance because the customers policy was voided because they were using illegal items.

As a result your customer is out of a home, they now have to sue you as a seller and also take action in the criminal court, you end up losing your assets and possibly do jail time all for a toaster.

on average i am finding between 20-50 sellers a day which are not complying with the relevant laws, The Australian Communications & Media Authority has a form for complaints of non compliance:

http://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/equipment-compliance-and-labelling-complaints

In order to learn more about compliance, See www.acma.gov.au or www.erac.gov.au

Help keep australia free of illegal goods, if you see someone distributing illegal items, report them immediately.

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

davewil1964 — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 10:16:14 GMT

As a seller of secondhand books, why should I read?

if I sold secondhand clothing why should I read?

If I sold handmade craft items why should I read?

If I sold cheap knockoffs of brand fashion and the actual manufacturer was not interested in the VERO programme why should I read?

Do you think ALL sellers sell electrical goods?

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 10:23:28 GMT

*has nightmares about lights from China*

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

2justcollectit — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 10:25:10 GMT

so what if the electrical item is sold as not working ? -

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

2justcollectit — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 10:26:17 GMT

so what happens when you list an electical item as not working?

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

cherry*135 — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 10:26:51 GMT

Did you read this bit?

"Help keep australia free of illegal goods, if you see someone distributing illegal items, report them immediately."

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 10:29:27 GMT

The items I purchased were located in Sydney. They arrived via Beijing complete with power adapter thingies....

*sob*

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

phorum_junkie* — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 08:12:11 GMT

Are you trying to say that if we have a house fire while using some of our UK electrical items which we have brought to Australia with us that our insurance company would not pay up? If you are then you are wrong as after another spate of these type of posts we actually checked with several companies and all of them said of course we were covered.

As anyone can go to China and pick and choose exact replicas of all types of compliance marks from all over the world how could anyone who unknowingly purchased something that had a legal looking compliance mark and an Australian plug be expected to know it was not legal?

As op shops sell electrical items specifying that they have not been tested what makes you think somebody cannot sell their second hand items in the same way?

As a general principal you are right and I would never buy anything like a computer battery or phone charger from a Chinese seller but you do have to use common sense when you buy anything.

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

thecatspjs — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 09:16:42 GMT

@phorum_junkie* wrote:

As op shops sell electrical items specifying that they have not been tested what makes you think somebody cannot sell their second hand items in the same way?

Op shops (and others) are subject to a range a legislation that varies from state to state, for example Victorias's requirements are cut and paste below (source energy safe victoria (esa).

Sale and supply of second-hand equipment

If you are selling or supplying second-hand electrical equipment you must make certain information available to prospective buyers.

Organisations and individuals supplying or offering to supply second-hand electrical equipment must be aware of the legal obligations imposed on them under electricity safety legislation. These include:

A person supplying or offering to supply second-hand electrical equipment must attach a label to the equipment stating that it is second-hand

A business, including major charitable organisations, supplying or offering to supply second-hand electrical equipment must also attach a label stating that the equipment is second-hand and has been inspected and tested, and is compliant with Australian/New Zealand Standard(AS/NZS) 3760, or

If it has not been tested, the business supplying or offering to supply second-hand electrical equipment must include a clear statement on the label stating the equipment is second-hand, with additional words as follows: DANGER – DO NOT USE OR CONNECT TO SUPPLY – THIS SECOND-HAND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT MAY BE FAULTY AND SHOULD BE INSPECTED AND TESTED BY A COMPETENT PERSON IN ACCORDANCE WITH AS/NZS 3760

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

phorum_junkie* — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 16:24:58 GMT

If it has not been tested, the business supplying or offering to supply second-hand electrical equipment must include a clear statement on the label

So you agree that if you are not a business but somebody just selling off your unwanted personal items it is OK as long as you say they are not tested etc.

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

cq_tech — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 17:00:22 GMT

Correct. There is currently no legislation in this country which imposes any restrictions on private sellers nor prevents them from advertising their used electrical items for sale via any medium they wish.

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

thecatspjs — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 22:18:07 GMT

There are several legislative requirements regarding sale of new and second hand goods that apply to individuals.

My post above identifies one of them. There are other requirements that are relevant including sale of banned products and recalled goods.

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

3415len — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 23:12:39 GMT

I don't sell electrical goods , but I wonder why the Australia goverment allow these items to be brought into the country and allowed to be sold on line, knowing very well that there eligal

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

emeraldtarpon — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 02:45:35 GMT

Dave,

this is a direct warning to those that fall under these Govt compliances...why does that irritate you so much???

Is it because this poster is VERY smart and can see the writing on the wall...eg:-this WILL be used against Australian ebay sellers?

Is the OP potentially stifiling ebays next "trick",Dave?

The OP is WAY ahead on this particular issue,isn't he.

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

*crikey*mate* — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 02:53:20 GMT

If they are illegal, then how come international travellers can bring them in and use them in hotels here?

I am reasonably certain that a hotel would not allow their use if it meant forgoing their insurance, whereas most supply converters.

If the actual items are illegal, then why would it be possible to purchase converters?

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

thecatspjs — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 04:37:41 GMT

Manufacturing, Distribution and selling has restrictions.

Use is another issue all together.

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

cq_tech — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 06:58:48 GMT

You misunderstood what I said. I'm not talking about non-compliant, counterfeit, banned, or recalled products, only perfectly legal goods for which private individuals have no further use.

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

davewil1964 — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 08:56:16 GMT

@emeraldtarpon wrote:
Dave,
this is a direct warning to those that fall under these Govt compliances...why does that irritate you so much???

Is it because this poster is VERY smart and can see the writing on the wall...eg:-this WILL be used against Australian ebay sellers?

Is the OP potentially stifiling ebays next "trick",Dave?

The OP is WAY ahead on this particular issue,isn't he.

Because the OP is crying wolf. And stated a generalisation as a specific, and has not provided any legislative basis for the rant.

And just happens to sell this sort of stuff.

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

gec2002 — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 00:00:18 GMT

How about these regulations in Victoria (and similiar in other states)

From EnergySafe Victoria

"There are regulations that apply to the supply of electrical equipment and appliances. The requirements set out in the regulations must be followed. A failure to do so is a criminal offence.

Electricity Safety (Equipment) Regulations 2009
Part 4 of the Electricity Safety Act 1998 sets out the specific provisions for approval, supply and use of electrical equipment in Victoria."

Re: Regulatory compliance, All Sellers Must Read

essel_emporium — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 02:49:28 GMT

There is tendency today to go overboard with safety. Just watched a guy at work tag-and-test everything in the office, and give everything a clean bill of health. I asked, 'what about the wiring in the walls?' I got a blank look. So, if the place burns down because a rat has been nibling wires it kind of undermines the job the tag-and-tester was doing. No one checks the wiring that no one sees.

Interesting note about the toaster. Though, the fuse/circuit breaker would probably blow first. That is, if its been tested to be good. Oh, we don't tag and test fuses. Oops. And nobody puts copper wire in their fuse when they can't find the fuse wire.

Choice gave a stereo amp a bad report on an item. It was a qulity hifi unit. It got the bad write up because when they dangled it by the power cable the cable came adrit. Unsafe they said. I don't normally carry my electrical products by their power cables. Perhaps Choce does.