Regulator mulls prosecution for ‘illegal’ child car seats

The National Regulator of Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) has confirmed that it will explore possible prosecution against a trader importing and supplying car seats for babies and minors without the necessary preapproved documentation, officially known as a Letter of Authority (LoA). Without an LoA a trader may not import goods into South Africa, let alone supply them to any commercial cocnern trading goods on the open market. In most instances the absence of an LoA indicates that goods have not passed regulatory muster with the NRCS and as such may not be made legally available for sale anywhere in the South African market. Most importantly, and specifically insofar as it pertains to safety products it could mean that the goods sold are unsafe if not lethal. Following a recent investigation by FTW, the regulator admitted that the baby seats in question, were being brought into the country illegally by a trading outfit known only as HSG. NRCS CEO Edward Mamadise said that he could confirm that the Wonder Women baby car seats were currently being sold via online platforms like Facebook and Gumtree directly to consumers. Perhaps more alarming, and by its own admission, the regulator added that it “is not in a position to comment on issues of compliance with the safety requirements as they have not been subjected to the pre-approval process”, referred to in regulation terms as homologation. Since the regulator’s comments on the matter, Peggie Mars who manages

one of the country’s only public watch dogs overseeing child car safety and related regulation matters, Wheel Well, has reacted strongly against the potential consequences of not removing Wonder Women seats from being sold online. Closer scrutiny has since revealed that one localised e-commerce site, Happy Deals, is still selling the seats, unsurprisingly at vastly reduced prices to conveniently compete with much pricier car seats sold in store. The regulator said it was not resting on its laurels and doing nothing. “A meeting was arranged with the owner of HSG in an attempt to deal with the non-compliance with compulsory specification (VC 8033 for child restraints) but he refused to cooperate and immediately abandoned the meeting.” More importantly, the regulator stressed that “the matter is now with the NRCS legal team who will explore possible prosecution as it is unlawful to sell products that are not homologated and

pose danger to consumers”. It added that that the regulator’s primary concern remained “rooting out noncompliant products from the market that is placed high on its agenda”. It furthermore emphasised that “where a commodity is found to be non-compliant with certain compulsory specifications, the company is informed both verbally and in writing to correct or come up with corrective action to address the non-compliant product – and failure to do so results in products being confiscated and destroyed”. Mars urged parents to preferably buy car safety equipment for babies and minors in store and only those brands that were labelled with red Economic Commission of Europe verification stickers. As for Wonder Women seats, FTW can confirm that these products are not listed on the regulator’s homologation database for LoA-approved car seats. Attempts to get comment from Happy Deals and HSG were unsuccessful.