Models Exr, Mxr And Rxr. Manufactured Since 1 July 1996. On 15 June 1999 The Federal Court Ordered The Recall Of Eldorado Helmets As It Was Found They Did Not Comply With The Mandatory Safety Standard. What are the defects?Do Not Comply With The Mandatory Safety Standard, Australian Standard As 1698-1988 . Failure Of Helmets To Comply With The Standard Means That There May Be Significant Risk Of Head Injuries To Motor Cyclists In The Event Of An Accident. What are the hazards? What should consumers do?Do Not Continue To Use The Helmet. To Arrange For A Full Refund Or Replacement Helmet, Call Mhg On Freecall 1800 069 752. Recall enquiries Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is the responsible regulator for this recall. Enquire about this recallTranscript11/8/2000Australia's only motorcycle helmet maker faces survival test KERRY O'BRIEN: Australia's only manufacturer of motorcycle helmets has won a costly 18-month court battle to re-establish its business after its helmets were ruled unsafe last year.

But is it a Pyrrhic victory?The company, MHG Plastics used to have an 8 per cent market share but had to recall its helmets after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took action in the Federal Court.Now all of Australia's motorcycle helmets are imported and the company is facing a tough battle to break back into the market.And in all the legal arguments the fundamental question remains -- are the helmets safe?Business and economics editor Alan Kohler reports.STEVE HARITOS, MHG PLASTICS: We're very angry.We're very angry from the point of view that it's cost jobs, It's cost this company its credibility in the market for 22 years and of course, it's cost us millions of dollars.ALAN ASHER, AUST COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION: The ACCC has acted entirely in a proper manner.We've got an absolute responsibility under the law, especially where there are product safety issues, to act swiftly and we did that.DAVID REIDIE, MOTORBIKE DEALER: I find the situation absurd.ALAN KOHLER: This is a sort of Greek tragedy in Australian manufacturing.

For 22 years, Steve Haritos's company MHG Plastics has been Australia's only maker of motorcycle helmets.He made the open-face type preferred by Harley Davidson riders.Last year he suddenly lost his Standards Australia accreditation and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission successfully petitioned the Federal Court for an order that he stop making them and recall the ones that he'd made.STEVE HARITOS: The impact of the recall has really been devastating for the company and its employees.We retrenched approximately 20 people.ALAN KOHLER: Steve Haritos has no doubt where the blame for all this lies.STEVE HARITOS: We can only cast, I guess, the blame straight at the agency -- that's the ACCC -- for taking the action against us, as they did.We argued against with them, we gave them the opportunity to hear us out and, unfortunately, it just fell on deaf ears.All they were interested in was to really send us to the wall at the end of the day.ALAN ASHER: From our point of view, we took fairly prompt action in bringing to the courts to deal with what we thought to be a serious consumer hazard and that's our statutory responsibility.

And I can't see that because the helmets were manufactured in Australia that that should give people an exemption from the law.ALAN KOHLER: The ACCC relied on crash tests carried out by the NSW Road Traffic Authority's crash lab at the behest of Quality Assurance Services, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Standards Australia.Last year's tests were different to the ones that had been done for the past 22 years and it's that change in testing methodology that's been ruled out of order by the Federal Court this week.Kubota Rtv 500 Tires For SaleNeither Quality Assurance Services nor the RTA crash lab were prepared to appear on tonight's program to defend the tests.Renault Clio Tyre Speed RatingBut MHG's lawyer, Ellen Beerworth, has no doubt that the blame lies with QAS.Lowes Made To Measure Blinds

ELLEN BEERWORTH, LAWYER: We think they have acted in bad faith.We believe -- We would allege that they have misused their monopoly power.We believe they've acted unconscionably.We believe they've breached their contract with MHG.We believe they've been negligent.I don't know if I've left anything out, but we certainly will be seeking exemplary or punitive damages against QAS.ALAN KOHLER: The old test used to hit them along the centre line, along here, but the new ones that they failed last year tested here on this side and also sat the helmet on a different-sized head form.The Federal Court's Full Bench has upheld the appeal against those tests.Remember that a lot of riders still use these helmets, despite last year's recall, so the question remains -- are they safe?DAVID REIDIE: Motorcycle riders' lives are in the hands of that Standards sticker.Here we've got a Standards Association and a manufacturer of helmets in Australia fighting in the courts for 24 months over whether a particular helmet is safe or not.24 months later we've got the courts saying they're safe and we've got the Standards Department still saying they're not safe.

I don't know what to do.ALAN ASHER: Consumers ought to be able to rely on the fact that a helmet has a quality certification sticker on it and the commission has the task under the act of enforcing product safety standards.Where the competent authorities come to us to say that there are helmets that don't meet those standards, it's our task to bring those before the courts to have them removed from the market.ALAN KOHLER: That is exactly what happened in this case, except that the manufacturer has won an appeal.This is new territory for the ACCC, for Standards Australia and for the RTA crash lab.Do they appeal to the High Court to keep the helmets off the market, or do they sit back and wait to be sued by MHG Plastics?At this stage, they're not saying anything.DAVID REIDIE: We expect them to give us clear, concise information on what is a safe helmet.Like, Australian Standards have given us no information on this. Transcripts on this website are created by an independent transcription service.