Clek Foonf Convertible Car Seat – non-compliance to Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

Issue:

Transport Canada and Clek, Inc. are informing the public of a non-compliance of the Foonf convertible car seat made between December 2012 and May 19, 2016.  Specifically, Transport Canada testing found that when installed in one specific configuration, forward-facing with a lap belt only and top tether in Recline Position 1, the car seat did not meet the dynamic requirements for chest acceleration of the Motor Vehicle Restraint Systems and Booster Seats Safety Regulation.

Safety Risk:

Regulations set forth by Transport Canada require car seats to meet all compliance requirements when subjected to a dynamic test, including measures and limits for chest acceleration. In testing performed by Transport Canada, the convertible car seat in question does not meet the dynamic test requirements when the seat is used forward-facing, installed with a vehicle lap belt only and tether strap, and in Recline Position 1.  No other installation configuration is affected by this notice.

Company Action:

Transport Canada’s compliance testing program uncovered the non-compliance condition. Upon being made aware of the issue, Clek immediately commisioned a retest and the results demonstrated compliance with the dynamic requirements of the Motor Vehicle Restraint Systems and Booster Seats Safety Regulations. In spite of the results of Clek’s retesting, in order to address the result of the Transport Canada compliance test, Clek voluntarily decided to revise the warning label and instruction manual. Effective May 20^th, 2016, the Foonf warning label and instruction manual no longer allow use of Recline Position 1 when installed forward-facing with a vehicle lap belt only and tether strap.  Notes have also been added to the instruction manual to reinforce that this installation configuration should not be used. For any consumer wishing to install the seat forward-facing with a lap belt only and top tether, the seat should be installed using Recline Position 2.

Clek will notify all registered consumers who own an affected product of the issue and provide them with labels that indicate the revised use information.  Clek will also make these labels available to consumers who own an affected product and are not registered when they contact Clek.

Consumer Recourse:

Clek will notify all registered consumers affected by this notice and will provide new labels with updated use information to be applied to both the product and the instruction manual.

All non-registered consumers or consumers who have moved are encouraged to contact Clek by email or by phone for the labels providing updated use information.

The affected seats should not be returned to retailers or the company.