The Act contains provisions of relevance to country of origin representations made by businesses.
Section 52 of the Act contains a general prohibition against conduct that misleads or deceives or is likely to mislead or deceive.
Section 53(a) provides a broad prohibition against making a false representation that goods, among other things, have a particular history.
Section 53(eb) prohibits businesses from making false or misleading representations concerning the place of origin of goods.
Section 55 prohibits a person from engaging in conduct that is liable to mislead the public as to the nature, manufacturing process, the characteristics, the suitability for their purpose or the quantity of any goods.
Sections 75AZC(1)(a), 75AZC(1)(i) and 75AZH, contained in Part VC of the Act, mirror ss. 53(a), 53(eb) and 55 respectively. There is no mirror provision of s. 52 in Part VC of the Act.
Breaches of ss. 52, 53(a), 53(eb) and 55 give rise to civil action. Breaches of ss. 75AZC(1)(a), 75AZC(1)(i) and 75AZH give rise to criminal sanctions.
Sections 53(a) and 75AZC(1)(a) are relevant because a representation as to the country of origin of goods is a representation as to the particular history of those goods.
Sections 55 and 75AZH are relevant because a representation about the country of origin may be a representation about the nature, manufacturing process or the characteristics of particular goods.
Safe harbours
Division 1AA of Part V of the Trade Practices Act (ss. 65AA to 65AN) specifically applies to country of origin representations. These provisions set out defences, also called safe harbours, to proceedings brought under ss. 52, 53(a), 53(eb) and 75AZC(1)(a) or 75AZC(1)(i) of the Act. This means that where certain tests are met, claims about the origin of goods do not breach ss. 52, 53(a), 53(eb), 75AZC(1)(a) or 75AZC(1)(i) of the Act. It is important to note that the defences are not available for proceedings brought under ss. 55 or 75AZH of the Act.
Division 1AA recognises three general classes of country of origin representations and sets out the safe harbour tests relating to each. The classes of country of origin representations to which these tests apply are:
General country of origin representations, including for example, ‘Made in Australia’, ‘Australian Made’ and ‘Manufactured in Australia’ or similar representations about goods from other countries.
‘Product of …’ or ‘Produce of …’ representations.
Prescribed logos
The tests applicable to the different classes of representations are found under 'Made in (country of origin) defence', 'Logos' and 'Product of (country of origin) defence'.
Place of origin claims
Sections 53(eb) and 75AZC(1)(i) refer to ‘place of origin’ claims. ‘Country of origin’ claims are a subset of place claims.
A place of origin claim can be that a good originates from a narrower or more localised region than a country. For instance, ‘Made in Melbourne; or ‘Product of the Hunter Valley’.
All false and misleading claims about the place of origin are prohibited by ss. 53(eb) and 75AZC(1)(i). If the claim is place of origin only, and not also a country of origin claim, the August 1998 changes do not affect it. Place only claims will be assessed on their merits. Place claims may also include qualified claims that might imply a lesser connection with the place, such as ‘Packed in Melbourne’ or ‘Bottled in the Hunter Valley’.
The August 1998 Part V Division 1AA defences—the safe harbours—specifically relate only to country of origin claims.
Other relevant legislation
The foregoing relates only to obligations under the Trade Practices Act.
Various other Commonwealth and state/territory legislation also applies to the making of country of origin representations. See Links in Related documents for further information.
The defences set out in Part V, Division 1AA of the Act are not, at the time of preparing this website, mirrored in state and territory legislation.
