Do e-commerce and online retail businesses need to notify ACCC of a voluntary recall within 2 days?

Notify ACCC of a voluntary recall within 2 days. Section 128 of the ACL requires a supplier of consumer goods to notify the responsible Minister within 2 days of voluntarily recalling consumer goods. The ACCC operates Product Safety Australia for recall notifications.

Trigger: Initiating a voluntary recall.

Rules Mate runs its applicability engine across 9 business structures and 6 size bands for each of the 35 industries it maps. For 31 of those industries the answer for "Notify ACCC of a voluntary recall within 2 days" is no. E-commerce & online retail is one of the 4 where the answer is different: yes.

The deciding fact for e-commerce and online retail businesses: Industry: E-commerce & online retail.

About the industry: Online retailers and marketplaces. Captured by ACL, Privacy Act, and unfair contract terms regime.

Compare a professional services (general) business with 6–19 employees structured as a Pty Ltd company: the obligation does not apply (Requires industry: Retail trade / E-commerce & online retail / Manufacturing or industry: Medical devices & therapeutic goods).

Each cell is the engine's outcome for a business in e-commerce & online retail with that structure and size, assuming it sells to consumers and small businesses and holds customer contact details. "Check" means the obligation turns on a fact the industry does not settle.

When due

Within 2 days of recall.

Evidence to keep

Recall notification, communications plan, return/refund records.

Maximum penalty

Civil penalty up to $16.665M (corporations) for failure to notify

Regulator

ACCC

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth (national)

• Button + coin battery safety standard (mandatory): Only if
• Comply with mandatory product safety standards + bans (ACL): Yes
• Loyalty programs must comply with ACL transparency + UCT: Only if

• Medical devices & therapeutic goods: Yes
• Retail trade: Yes
• Manufacturing: Yes