Online marketplace operator's guide

Purpose

This guide is intended for online marketplace operators that operate websites where suppliers can supply their electrical equipment. The following information in this guide will help you and the suppliers using your marketplace to meet the obligations of the Electrical Equipment Safety System (EESS).

Note: In this document a supplier means a responsible supplier that imports or manufactures electrical equipment that it supplies or offers for supply in Victoria.

Requirements on Suppliers

The obligations on suppliers under the EESS covers registration of suppliers and equipment, as well as the marking requirements of the Regulatory Compliance Mark (RCM) on the electrical equipment.

RCM

It is marked on the product by suppliers to show that the supplier and product are complying with the EESS.

For further information on the EESS requirements on responsible suppliers, please refer to the EESS website: https://www.eess.gov.au/

Steps to take to ensure the suppliers are selling safe and compliant electrical equipment

1. Inform:

Where you are aware of suppliers operating on your platform who supply electrical equipment, please provide them this information sheet.

2. Watch:

Be alert for any supplier who is supplying any of the following:

Advise	Correct	If you see:	Take action
Electrical equipment should not need a travel adaptor to operate			Contact the suppler to enquire about the issue. Notify them of your intention to remove their product listing
Mains plugs must have insulated plug pins			Contact the suppler to enquire about the issue. Notify them of your intention to remove their product listing
Mains operated household equipment must have RCM	RCM logo (shown above) marked on equipment	No RCM marked	Contact the suppler to enquire about the issue. Notify them of your intention to remove their product listing
Mains operated household equipment must have appropriate voltage rating	230V or 220-240V or 240V 400V or 380-415V or 415V	110V 220V 380V	Contact the suppler to enquire about the issue. Notify them of your intention to remove their product listing
Mains operated household equipment that are recalled must not be sold, new or as second-hand	Electrical equipment not listed on the product safety website	Electrical equipment is listed on the product safety website	Contact the suppler to enquire about the issue. Notify them of your intention to remove their product listing

3. Act:

If you suspect a supplier that is located in Victoria is selling electrical equipment that is unsafe or is not suitable for Australia because it does not appear to comply with EESS requirements, please contact Energy Safe Victoria for further guidance.

• Telephone: 03 9203 9700 option 5, option 2.
• Email: mailto:Info@energysafe.vic.gov.au

Opportunity for improvement/trends

1. Registration of supplier and electrical equipment

As an online marketplace operator, you may want to implement processes to verify that supplier’s level 2 and level 3 in-scope electrical equipment is registered and that the supplier is registered as a responsible supplier. These details can be checked on the https://www.eess.gov.au/.

You may consider either removing or advising the supplier to remove any level 2 or level 3 electrical equipment from the marketplace that is verified as being unregistered or where the supplier is verified as being unregistered (where they are required to be).

2. Verify Australian-listed suppliers are located in Australia

• Consider removing all suppliers that are not located in Australia from the .com.au marketplace.
• Consider implementing a system to verify that suppliers are located in Australia – and consider removing suppliers from marketplace that are not located in Australia.

3. Display location of supplier

To help the public make informed purchasing decisions, you may want to consider displaying the location of the supplier when they have been verified as being from Australia.

4. Display full details of the equipment

To help the public make informed purchasing decisions, consider only allowing suppliers to advertise electrical equipment on your marketplace if they provide the model, brand and the rating of the product –including a photo of the rating plate/label.
In addition, you may implement a system that verifies the registration of the in-scope electrical (where they are required to be) from the EESS database.