Review of the mandatory safety standard for vehicle recovery straps

Overview

The ACCC invites you to have your say on the issues and policy options in the consultation paper on the review of the mandatory safety standard for vehicle recovery straps. The issues in this paper have been briefly summarised below, please refer to the document for further details.

The ACCC prefers submissions to be provided via the ACCC consultation hub.

Alternatively, interested parties can email submissions to productsafety.regulation@accc.gov.au

Submissions can also be made via post to:

Director
Standards & Policy
Consumer Product Safety Branch
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
GPO Box 3131
CANBERRA ACT 2601

Submissions will be published on the ACCC website at the end of the consultation period.

Please note any information that you believe to be of a confidential nature should be clearly marked or identified as confidential. The ACCC will not disclose the confidential information to third parties, other than advisors or consultants engaged directly by the ACCC, without first providing you with notice of its intention to do so, such as where it is compelled to do so by law.

Why your views matter

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is reviewing the mandatory standard for vehicle recovery straps because:

• the standard has not been reviewed since it started in July 2010
• we want to know if the warning label could be improved

Background

The Queensland Government introduced a standard for vehicle recovery straps in 2008. In preparation for the Australian Consumer Law, the ACCC and State and Territory product safety regulators developed a national mandatory safety standard that started in July 2010.

The standard requires:            

•           information on the retail packaging – including information about the minimum breaking strength of the strap to guide safe use

•           information and a warning on the recovery strap – including the minimum breaking strength of the strap and recommendations about safe use of the strap

•           instructions for safe use

•           a warning label

Policy options

The ACCC is considering the following policy options for dealing with the current mandatory safety standard:

A detailed discussion of the options is in the paper.

Your submission to this consultation will help us refine the estimated costs, benefits and safety outcomes for each option, and to recommend the most appropriate option to the Minister.