FAIR TRADING ACT 1987 - SECT 23B Court orders relating to disposal of certain consumer goods

FAIR TRADING ACT 1987 - SECT 23B

23B Court orders relating to disposal of certain consumer goods

(1) This section applies to consumer goods if--

(a) the consumer goods do not comply with a safety standard that is in force for consumer goods of that kind and the cause of that non-compliance cannot be remedied, or

(b) a permanent ban on consumer goods of that kind is in force, or

(c) a recall notice for consumer goods of that kind is in force and a defect or dangerous characteristic of such consumer goods identified in the notice cannot be remedied, or

(d) the consumer goods are unsafe consumer goods.

(2) A court may make an order under this section only on the application of the Secretary.

(3) If the court is satisfied that a person possesses or has control of consumer goods of a particular kind to which this section applies for the purposes of trade or commerce, the court may make an order authorising one or more investigators to do the following in accordance with any requirements specified in the order--

(a) to enter the premises of the person that are specified in the order,

(b) to search the premises for consumer goods of a kind specified in the order and seize any such consumer goods that are found at those premises,

(c) to destroy or otherwise dispose of any such consumer goods that are so seized.

(4) The court may make an order authorising an investigator to destroy or otherwise dispose of any consumer goods to which this section applies that have been seized by an investigator under the authority of a search warrant issued under section 19A or obtained in the course of an investigation under this Act.

(5) Before making an application under this section, the Secretary must--

(a) take reasonable steps to discover who has an interest in the consumer goods, and

(b) if it is practicable to do so, notify each person whom the Secretary believes to have such an interest of the proposed application.

(6) The Secretary must, in the application, identify each person who the Secretary believes has an interest in the consumer goods concerned and whom it was not considered practicable to notify.

(7) A person who establishes to the satisfaction of the court that he or she has an interest in the consumer goods concerned is entitled to be heard in relation to the application.

(8) If goods are seized and disposed of by an investigator in accordance with an order under this section, the person from whom the goods were seized or, if that person was not entitled to possession of the goods, the owner of the goods is liable to pay the costs reasonably incurred by the investigator in seizing and disposing of the goods.

(9) An amount payable by a person under this section may be recovered as a debt due to the Crown in a court of competent jurisdiction.