Standard review - Sunglasses consultation

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 standard for sunglasses. The issues in this paper has 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 standards for sunglasses because the voluntary standard AS/NZS1067:2003 Sunglasses & fashion spectacles, on which the mandatory standard is based, has been recently updated.

The purpose of this review is to assess whether the mandatory safety standard remains effective and whether there are more efficient ways of achieving the same level of safety.

This review of the standard considers the adoption of international standards. The ACCC has assessed the ISO 12312-1:2013 (E) Eye and face protection -- Sunglasses and related eyewear -- Part 1: Sunglasses for general use and the ANSI Z80.3-2015 Non-prescription sunglass and fashion eyewear requirements standards against its published criteria for acceptance.

Background

We review mandatory standards periodically to verify they are effective, up to date and
remain relevant. The mandatory standard for sunglasses came into effect on 1 July 1985 and was last amended 25 August 2005.

Policy options

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

The ACCC’s preliminary position is Policy option 3 to adopt the updated voluntary Australian standard.

Your submissions 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.