A mandatory Australian Standard exists which 'prescribes requirements for the design and construction of toys for children up to and including 36 months' (i.e., rules for minimum dimensions, small parts, etc.).
This standard also applies to toys which could be interpreted as age appropriate for 0-3, but not necessarily labelled so.
I have a copy of the standard, which (as far as I can deduce) focuses on the design requirements and details the testing methods used to confirm items meet the requirements, but I can't seem to see where it straightforwardly states "you must have your product tested prior to the first sale" (I could be missing something - it's a big document, so please tell me if I so!).
Question (in the context of wooden toys - i .e., no magnets, small parts of concern, etc.): There are many sellers online who advertise items as "meet Australian standards", so they have built them to spec, but do not advertise that the toys actually have testing certificates available to confirm this from a reputable third party (e.g., Austest). Is it illegal for these sellers to conduct this business? If they sell their item with the intention to have it tested when financially possible, and then have the product tested after at least one sale has finalised, are they in a position where they could be fined or otherwise treated as if they've conduct illegal business? This method seems to be popular. Reading about the testing methods, there are some tests that would be near impossible to conduct yourself as a small business (e.g., strength testing using a specified force(N)).
Are these sellers partaking in an illegal process, or is legality not a factor and they are instead only placing themselves at risk in respect to their business insurance, customer safety, potential for a customer to pick this out, and overall business integrity?
This standard also applies to toys which could be interpreted as age appropriate for 0-3, but not necessarily labelled so.
I have a copy of the standard, which (as far as I can deduce) focuses on the design requirements and details the testing methods used to confirm items meet the requirements, but I can't seem to see where it straightforwardly states "you must have your product tested prior to the first sale" (I could be missing something - it's a big document, so please tell me if I so!).
Question (in the context of wooden toys - i .e., no magnets, small parts of concern, etc.): There are many sellers online who advertise items as "meet Australian standards", so they have built them to spec, but do not advertise that the toys actually have testing certificates available to confirm this from a reputable third party (e.g., Austest). Is it illegal for these sellers to conduct this business? If they sell their item with the intention to have it tested when financially possible, and then have the product tested after at least one sale has finalised, are they in a position where they could be fined or otherwise treated as if they've conduct illegal business? This method seems to be popular. Reading about the testing methods, there are some tests that would be near impossible to conduct yourself as a small business (e.g., strength testing using a specified force(N)).
Are these sellers partaking in an illegal process, or is legality not a factor and they are instead only placing themselves at risk in respect to their business insurance, customer safety, potential for a customer to pick this out, and overall business integrity?