Asbestos in toys triggers crackdown by Australian Border Force

The head of the border protection agency has spoken of his shock after discovering ­asbestos-tainted toys are being sold.

The head of the nation’s border protection agency was shocked after discovering ­asbestos-tainted toys being sold in Australia.

The Australian Border Force is bolstering its efforts to seize products containing asbestos, which are entering Australia “below the radar” through online sales. Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg said the challenge posed by online commerce was “huge”.

“We need to do the best we can with analytics and targeting ­because we can’t screen every single product,” he said.

He admitted the agency had struggled to win convictions ­“because of the difficulty in terms of proving the source and the ­intent”.

“Several matters that have (been put) forward haven’t progressed to an actual court case,” he said. “I think we can do more on the enforcement side in terms of prosecutions.”

A delegation from unions and asbestos ­support groups met the commissioner in Canberra last month. Also present were representatives from the offices of ­Immigration Minister Peter ­Dutton and Employment Minister Eric Abetz. They discussed the sale of toys, including a CSI-style science kit with “forensic” dusting powder that contained asbestos and a necklace made from cancer-causing chrysotile asbestos.

Pictures have also emerged of children’s crayons carrying ­Disney, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers ­labels, available for sale online. They were found to contain asbestos ­fibres.

“It’s quite a stark reality when you get shown a children’s product, that a young child could be dusting powder (containing ­asbestos). It was quite a salutary experience,” Mr Quaedvlieg said.

“If you’re a consumer ordering something on eBay … it comes very quickly. For us, in among 200 million mail consignments a year, to identify a CSI kit or something that contains asbestos, that’s a very, very difficult challenge.”

Mr Quaedvlieg admitted the Australian Border Force relied heavily on “interest groups” to ­notify the agency about products containing asbestos.

“This is why we’re engaging with industry; we can rely on their interest, their ­research, their findings,” he said. “We’re commonwealth officials — how are we going to know there is asbestos in a necklace without their help?”

Historically, those who “inadvertently” imported asbestos-containing materials were not subject to prosecution. “They’ll order, let’s say, 100,000 brake pads from a Chinese exporter — they’ve asked the Chinese manufacturer to assure them there’s no asbestos and they accept that — and they’ve done their due diligence,’’ Mr Quaedvlieg said.

“And yet when it arrives … analysis proves there’s asbestos in the brake pads. Now they haven’t knowingly imported asbestos.

“We do a lot of education and awareness campaigning with ­industry ... and we think that’s a better approach than just a stick.”

However, he added: “We would definitely prosecute and charge in a case where someone is a recidivist offender.”