Australia - Proposal of 2 New Mandatory Standards - The Consumer Goods (Infant Products) Information Standard and the Consumer Goods (Infant Sleep Products) Safety Standard

​Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) intends to introduce 2 new mandatory standards - a mandatory safety standard for Infant Sleep Products and a mandatory information standard for infant sleep products.

The attached exposure drafts of the instruments set out the proposed requirements for the:

1. Consumer Goods (Infant Products) Information Standard 2023 exposure draft -A mandatory information standard for Infant Sleep Products, including Inclined Non-Sleep Products would include safety information and warnings so consumers are better informed of infant safe sleep practices and related risks.

2. Consumer Goods (Infant Sleep Products) Safety Standard 2023exposure draft - a mandatory safety standard for Infant Sleep Products would introduce testing and design requirements to address the risks associated with incline, curvature, rigidity and material used, in addition to established requirements such as stability. There would also be specific requirements for bassinets, folding and household cots to address product specific hazards (for example, bar/slat width, side height and drop side strength requirements).

Proposed date of entry into force:

The new mandatory safety standard and mandatory information standard would provide a transitional period (likely 18 months) to allow suppliers to move to the new requirements.

During this time household and folding cots are required to comply with either the current mandatory standards or the Consumer Goods (Infant Sleep Products) Safety Standard 2023.