Russell
Palmer Political reporter
Safety
standards for children’s toys are being updated to
automatically approve those that meet American and European
benchmarks.
Pro-Palestine protesters arrived at
Toyworld Wellington on Wednesday afternoon after Regulations
Minister David Seymour and Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron
Brewer arrived to publicise the changes.
The
protesters were quickly ejected from the building, but
continued to shout and use a megaphone from
outside.
The
ministers said the current rules for toys were “stuck in
2002”.
“They’ve been overtaken by newer, modern
standards several times over, and they’ve left New Zealand
lagging behind Australia,” Brewer said.
“That mismatch
is hurting Kiwi importers and retailers. We’ve heard they’re
retesting toys against our outdated standard even when those
toys already meet a comparable international
one.”
Seymour said the move was sparked by complaints
to the Regulations Ministry’s red tape tip line.
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He
said testing a toy against New Zealand’s standards was
costing importers and retailers between $3500 and $5000 per
toy.
“The Ministry for Regulation found that aligning
with Australia would reduce compliance costs for suppliers
and make New Zealand a more attractive market. So that’s
what we’re doing,” he said.
The ministers said the
changes would bring down the price of toys, and would have a
“net benefit” of up to $6.8 million over 10
years.
Seymour said the “net” figure included benefits
for both the buyer and the seller.
“That’s partly due
to not having to make the applications, and there’s fees
involved in that, and costs for the people that are selling
the toys, but ultimately, once you get more options and more
competition and lower prices, it’s the parents and
ultimately the children who will have options and no longer
be denied the toys that are available to American and
European children.”
He said he did not “put a huge
amount of store” in the figure, however.
“We know that
it’s positive, we know it’s probably in the millions, maybe
higher, but we know that we’re not losing anything by doing
it.”
He cut his statements short as a result of the
protesters “because I’m just mindful of Toy World here and
the disruption that they’re experiencing”.
He said it
was a shame that people going about their business “have to
put up with these kinds of interruptions from time to time.
We’re actually here for a very happy day, a day of
deregulation”.
“Unfortunately, a small number of
people are able to stop a whole lot of other good people
trying to come in and buy toys for their children. I don’t
think they do their cause any good. I suspect more and more
New Zealand’s frankly sick of it.”
Information
provided alongside their media release indicated that
recognising the United States and European standards would
bring New Zealand into line with “comparable international
requirements” to the current 2002 Australia/New Zealand
joint standard, which aims to minimise airway and choking
hazards.
The note said this would not reduce the
safety of toys sold in New Zealand.
After consultation
through an “exposure draft”, subject to final decisions,
suppliers would have six months to move to the updated
requirements.
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