s. 50. Prohibition of acquisitions that would result in a substantial lessening of competition
On 3 August 2006, the ACCC announced that it had accepted s. 87B undertakings offered by Alinta Limited pursuant to s. 87B of the Trade Practices Act in relation to the Alinta–AGL Joint Merger Proposal.
In summary, the undertakings provided by Alinta in relation to the Alinta–AGL Joint Merger Proposal require:
that Alinta divest the interest that it will obtain in Australian Pipeline Trust and Australian Pipeline Limited by a specified confidential date
that Alinta divest the Agility contracts (Agility is currently a subsidiary of AGL) that involve supplying management and operational services to the Moomba to Sydney and Parmelia pipelines
that Alinta abide by various hold separate and ring fencing commitments, including a commitment by Alinta not to nominate or vote on APL board appointments.
The undertaking notes that the ACCC may waive the requirement to divest the Agility contracts. The ACCC will make market inquiries in order to assist its decision as to whether it should waive the requirement to divest the Agility contracts.
The key competition concerns are addressed by the undertaking. The first key competition concern identified arose due to the possibility of aggregation of interests in the Moomba to Sydney Pipeline (currently owned by APT) and the Eastern Gas Pipeline (in which Alinta currently has an interest). These are the two key pipelines supplying the Sydney region. The second key competition concern identified arose due to the possibility of aggregation of interests in the Parmelia Gas Pipeline (currently owned by APT) and the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (in which Alinta has an interest). The Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline and the Parmelia Gas Pipeline are the two key pipelines supplying the Perth region.
Australian Gas Light Company, Great Energy Alliance Corporation Pty Limited and GEAC Operations Limited
s. 50. Prohibition of acquisitions that would result in a substantial lessening of competition
On 1 August 2006 the ACCC accepted an undertaking from the Australian Gas Light Company, Great Energy Alliance Corporation Pty Limited and GEAC Operations Limited that the companies will provide information to the ACCC concerning hedges, derivative transactions and power purchase agreements. This undertaking replaces an undertaking given to the ACCC on 3 March 2004 that ensured compliance with a court undertaking pursuant to a Federal Court decision of 19 December 2003 in the matter of the Australian Gas Light Company v the ACCC. This decision related to the AGL/GEAC consortium acquisition of a 35 per cent interest in the Loy Yang A base load generator in the Victorian region of the National Electricity Market.
ss. 52, 53(a) and 65D. Alleged misleading or deceptive conduct; false or misleading representations that goods are of a particular standard, quality, value, grade, composition, style or model or have had a particular history or particular previous use; and breach of mandatory consumer product information standards
Environmental Marketing Pty Ltd distributes a range of cosmetics under the name EnviroCare and promotes them as being free from harmful chemicals and having a reduced impact on the environment; the labels on the cosmetics did not have all of the ingredients listed as required by the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Information Standards) (Cosmetics)and, further, this may have been misleading if the ingredients not declared had been harmful or were detrimental to the environment.
On 16 August 2006 the ACCC accepted an undertaking from Environmental Marketing Pty Ltd to:
ensure all future supplies of its cosmetic products are correctly labelled and comply with the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Information Standards) (Cosmetics)
implement a trade practices compliance program
provide a notice for display at each retailer point of sale which offers consumers a replacement or refund on the EnviroCare cosmetic products which were incorrectly labelled
take all reasonable steps to ensure that the notice remains on display for at least four weeks
reimburse retailers and distributors who return product in accordance with the notice.
s. 65C. Alleged supply of goods in breach of mandatory consumer product safety standards
Hagemeyer Asia Pacific Pty Limited is a major electrical distributor which operates the Lawrence and Hanson and Auslec stores. It supplied about 800 Lawrence and Hanson-branded mountain bicycles throughout Australia between October 2005 and May 2006. Most bicycles were part of a promotional offer by Hagemeyer. Customers meeting the terms of the offer were supplied with a free bicycle. The bicycles were supplied unassembled. They did not comply with the mandatory standard for pedal bicycles.
On 29 August 2006 the ACCC accepted an undertaking from Hagemeyer to:
recall the bicycles and provide customers in return with a bicycle of equivalent value which complies with the standard
supply only bicycles that comply with the standard
implement procedures aimed at ensuring that any product that it may supply in the future which is subject to a mandatory product safety or information standard prescribed under the Trade Practices Act complies with that standard.
