Quad bike manufacturers turn to WTO rules in bid to block roll bars

Quad bike manufacturers are turning to World Trade Organisation rules in a bid to block Australia making roll bars mandatory, argues The Weekly Times.

China's President Xi Jinping greets US President Donald Trump at the G20 Summit in Osaka. Picture: Brendan Smialowski

JUST how far are quad-bike manufacturers willing to go in their battle to “ban the bar”?

First we had them claiming operator protection devices were linked to the deaths of three Australians, using their Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries US expert for hire, Scott Kebschull.

Now we have the US Government warning any move by the Australian Government to make fitting OPDs to new quad bikes mandatory would be a technical barrier to trade.

Surely Australia has the right to make its workplaces safer, to protect the lives of its citizens.

Referring the matter to the WTO could mean months or even years of delay.

The twist in this tale, as pointed out by safety researcher Keith Simmons, is that Israel has made OPDs mandatory within their nation for at least two decades.

“All manufacturers are still selling into Israel,” Mr Simmons told The Weekly Times.

So why is the US Government trying to block the mandatory fitting of OPDs in Australia while ignoring Israel?

Perhaps the answer can be found in the simple fact manufacturers Honda and Yamaha are pulling every lever they can to stop a domino-effect across the globe.

Awareness of the risks of quad bikes is on the rise in the US, UK and European nations.

Surely Canberra’s trade chiefs must be complaining about the hypocrisy of the US position behind the scenes, but they’re certainly not making their views public.

Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham declined to directly answer questions on the matter.

A key question is left unanswered: Why is Australia being targeted through the WTO while Israel’s exact same conduct is overlooked?