What a mess !

There is an eighty million dollar liability claim about to come home to roost in Australia - and it leaves a lot of questions to be answered.  How did it happen  ?   And what can be done to ensure it doesn't happen again ?

Many Australian importing firms go to China to seek competitively priced goods to bring to this country and sell for a profit.   Infinity Cable Company was one of them and very successfully imported electrical cable which was snapped up by several hardware chains.  At the time, it was claimed that this cable met the appropriate Australian standards.

Unfortunately, the insulation on this cable fell far short of Australian requirements. Our standard requires cable to have a working life of at least forty years. The defective insulation in Infinity cable means that from as early as 2016 it can become brittle and fail, resulting in possible electrical fires or electrocution.   It is subject to a product recall and it has been used in an estimated 40,000 Australian homes.

One of the resellers was Woolworths "Masters "hardware chain and Infinity was also sold by Thrifty Link and Home Timber and Hardware, accounting for about 85% of the cable sold in Australia, the rest was sold by electrical wholesalers.  The customers were a wide spread and included "Tradie "electricians and the vast DIY market.

It is essential that where this cable has been installed it is subject to prompt action to have it removed and replaced - and the big question is who pays the bill for that work to be done.  It looks like becoming a "lawyer's picnic " with claims flying in all directions.  Obviously, compensation is beyond the ability of the small importing firm, but the hardware chains are vulnerable, as are the electricians who used it in good faith.

Unfortunately, past history indicates that a mere fraction of product recalls result in customer reaction.   There is a good chance that most of this faulty cable will not be rectified, and as a result we can expect both house fires and danger to people coming in contact with the wiring in the years ahead.

This should be a wakeup call to the people tasked with inspecting incoming goods that flow through Australian Customs.   What certainty is required that goods subjected to a need to meet Australian standards - meet those requirements ?    Do we accept a declaration from a Chinese government source that tests have been made and our standards met ?    Do we require tests by an Australian authority to vindicate those standards ?   What rules apply ?   And what oversight is automatically triggered when legal standards apply ?

Car makers wishing to sell their product here are required to supply models for crash testing and these are then awarded a safety star standard.   The vast majority of imports are considered harmless, but obviously there are some materials that must achieve an adequate safety level and these should require a more thorough authentication as a matter of course.   It is now an inescapable fact that four thousand km of defective electrical cable passed through customs with this defect undetected.

The only benefit of disasters of this magnitude - is the hope that it will bring remedial action to prevent it happening again !