The Warehouse fined $234,000 over potentially dangerous toy’s packaging
Tuesday, 24 March 2026
The Warehouse Ltd has been ordered to pay a $234,000 fine for the packaging of a toy it sold that had failed several small part safety tests.
The Commerce Commission’s head of fair trading and product safety investigations, Simon Pope, said in a statement on Tuesday that the “Roo Crew Take-Apart Vehicle Toys” contained multiple small parts that they had argued at the district court presented a choking risk to children under 36 months.
“Multiple parts came off each variation of the toy, and they failed small parts testing,” Pope said.
“While the toys did carry some warnings, they were labelled and marketed for use by children aged 36 months or under. Our investigation also found the toys were displayed in an aisle with other toys suitable for children aged five and under.”
Toys that are designed, manufactured, labelled, or marketed for use by children under the age of three must comply with the product safety standard under the Fair Trading Act, the Commerce Commission said. This means they cannot have small parts, or parts that could come off during play, due to the choking hazard this presented.
The Commission formed the view that the Roo Crew Toy was for use by children under three, and therefore needed to comply with the standard.
“We take our role in enforcing the standard seriously, and will act where we see non-compliance, which can have dire consequences,” Pope said.
“Businesses should take steps to ensure the products they supply comply with legal requirements. Any labelling applied to the toy needs to align with the age appropriateness of the toy.”
The Warehouse previously issued a voluntary recall notice for the toy. The Commission continued to encourage anyone who still had one of the products to return them for a full refund.
The Warehouse responds
The Warehouse chief merchandise officer Carrie Fairley said in a statement the toy was “safe all along and no child has ever been injured”.
“The Commission’s key grievance was the packaging, not the toy itself. It related specifically to an image of a child who appeared to be under three years old, despite our clear and prominent age warnings on the packaging. We are grateful that the court reached the same view on this.
“The Commission pursued this matter for more than two years, even though The Warehouse removed the safe toy from sale immediately.
“What is disappointing is that over that time, countless toys have been sold to Kiwi families by offshore online retailers, which have been shown to fall seriously short of New Zealand’s product safety requirements.
“The Warehouse has, and always will, treat the safety of our customers as a non‑negotiable priority.”
CLARIFICATION: The fine was related to packaging of the toy, rather than about the toy’s safety itself.