Potentially dangerous toys and other products are finding their way into Aussie homes due to legal loopholes meaning online retail giants may take no responsibility for the items they stock.

Retail giants such as Amazon, Temu, AliExpress and Ebay are selling products that may already be banned in Australia, consumer group CHOICE warned on Wednesday.

These include fake novelty cigarettes that create a puff of smoke, cigarette lighters that look like toys and removable tongue studs that can easily come loose and become choking hazard.

Also of serious concern are flammable garments and products containing small choking hazards and potentially deadly button batteries, which may be in breach of safety standards.

CHOICE director of campaigns Andy Kelly said legal loopholes for online sales meant nothing was generally done about the breaches until someone got hurt.

Kelly described the scale of unsafe products for sale as frightening — particularly those designed for infants and children.

CHOICE has issued a complaint to the consumer watchdog and is urging the Australian government to take action against retailers who continue to sell dangerous products.

However, Kelly said online retailers may claim to act only as intermediaries, shifting blame onto third-party suppliers that could exist anywhere in the world.

“That gap in the law really allows online marketplaces to continue to get away with selling these unsafe products with little consequence,” he said.

CHOICE wants the federal government to introduce a general safety provision putting obligations on all businesses to ensure the products they sell are safe.

The European Union already has similar provisions, offering an existing framework to work from.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently took legal action against Amazon for allegedly stocking unicorn backpacks for toddlers that failed to include a warning they contained button batteries.

Kelly described the case as an interesting test of whether Amazon will be held accountable.

On Tuesday, the ACCC said it was also investigating the online supply of games and toys containing potentially deadly small high-powered magnets, despite the magnets being banned.

Several chess-style board games sold in Australia, including “magnetic chess” and “magnetic battle chess”, contain small magnets which if swallowed can cause life-threatening injuries.

The consumer watchdog sent takedown requests for the products to Amazon, eBay, Kogan, and Fruugo, ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.

Each website has since removed the listed items from their online stores.

Amazon said customer safety was its top priority and AI models and dedicated teams were used to continuously monitor its listed products to identify and remove any that may pose a risk.

Other online retailers mentioned have been contacted for comment.

Apart from Ebay, each website has also offered a refund to customers.

-AAP