Australian Product Recall Website Now Open

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has introduced a new web site about product recalls recently, and having a list of products that have been recalled is certainly helpful before and after you shop online.

Big changes to the way we are informed of product recalls has been introduced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recently. Normally, we would read about a product recalled in the paper, TV, or other media and because of this, a shopper response to product recalls has varied widely. In some cases shoppers never see or hear the alerts, leaving room for dangerous products to continue to be used or consumed.

"In a major report, the Review of the Australian Product Safety Recall System, we analysed the effectiveness of the current recall system", ACCC deputy chair Peter Kell said. "The days of relying just on newspaper advertisements as the major method of communication are past."

The new Product Safety Recalls Australia website allows shoppers, businesses, suppliers, and manufacturers to sign up for a list of web site services. Suppliers and manufacturers can create product recalls from the web site, while shoppers and businesses can subscribe to email alerts and RSS news feeds either from an entire product category list, or a specific category such as Children's toys. There's also a twitter account setup as part of the Australian government product safety web site.

I think this is a fantastic idea. It's all to easy to fall through the cracks of the old media system, and for me, missing a TV news broadcast event or daily paper is something I can do weekly ;)

I strongly recommend you subscribe to these emails. Getting email alerts delivered to your inbox, and taking 5 minutes to read about potentially dangerous products in your home is well worth the time spent.

Recalls Australia - www.recalls.gov.au
News Source: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)