The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released the latest in its series of 'Competing Fairly Forums', which is titled Collective bargaining. Competing Fairly Forums are DVD presentations produced by the ACCC as part of its continuing efforts to educate businesses about their rights and obligations under the Trade Practices Act 1974.
This forum examines the recent amendments to the Act that allow for new notification processes for small businesses looking to collectively negotiate with suppliers or customers.
The collective bargaining notification process is examined from the perspective of both small business collectives and the big businesses that may be the ‘target’ of such groups. It also outlines the ACCC’s role in assessing applications seeking immunity from legal action to engage in collective bargaining.
Screenings of Collective bargaining can be arranged by contacting the ACCC Small Business Helpline on 1300 302 021.
Scams awareness campaign
The annual four-week campaign conducted by the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce took place in March. The campaign helps people protect themselves from scams. The overall theme for the 2007 campaign was Scams target you—Protect yourself. The ACCC’s SCAMwatch website was the portal from the campaign.
The Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce was established in 2005 as a government response to combat consumer fraud and scams. The ACCC is a member of the taskforce, which comprises all government regulatory agencies and departments in Australia and New Zealand with responsibilities for consumer protection.
More information on scams is available by visiting the SCAMwatch website.
Horticulture Code of Conduct
The Horticulture Code of Conduct, which will regulate the trade of horticulture produce between growers and wholesale traders, comes into effect as a prescribed mandatory code of conduct under the Trade Practices Act on 14 May 2007.
The ACCC has developed a number of compliance tools to educate industry participants about the Horticulture Code. These include:
Overview of the Horticulture Code (Draft)
Guide to the Horticulture Code for growers and wholesale traders in the horticulture industry (Draft)
These publications can be accessed on the ACCC’s industry codes website. The ACCC also has a free information service—the Horticulture Code Information Network—which provides subscribers with updates on Horticulture Code developments.
The ACCC has also conducted more than 60 presentations to industry participants to inform them about the Horticulture Code and the ACCC’s role. These presentations have been made in major cities across Australia, as well in smaller centres such as Geraldton, Yeppoon, Mooloolabah, Berri, Orange, Launceston, Katherine and Ti Tree. Many more such presentations are scheduled for the next few months.
For more information, please visit the industry codes website or contact the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502.
Nursery furniture
Hazard identification, risk assessment and risk management developments
The product safety system in Australia has recently been the subject of considerable scrutiny and discussion. A major contribution to the examination of the system was the Productivity Commission’s 2006 report, the Review of the Australian Product Safety System.
The Productivity Commission report noted that approaches to product safety in Australia were largely reactive and suggested that:
from the very earliest stages of the design process, designers and engineers should attempt to identify all possible types of users of their product and the hazards associated with its use.1
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission uses a hazard-based approach to the development of mandatory standards and the assessment of unregulated products. The ACCC is enthusiastic about encouraging the potential for a greater emphasis on hazard prevention in the design and manufacture of consumer products.
The ACCC has fostered the work of Standards Australia and the Infant and Nursery Products Association of Australia (INPAA) in its efforts to develop a framework for a horizontal standards approach to hazard identification, risk assessment and risk management in nursery furniture design.
The Product Safety Framework (PSF) evolved from an INPAA initiative to provide suppliers with a system for assessing the safety of new nursery products not covered by existing safety standards.
The system assumes that certain product safety hazards are common to a range of nursery products and comprises a set of assessment modules (generic requirement modules) that test for the presence of common hazards. Any additional safety hazards considered relevant to only a specific product are to be addressed by yet-to-be formulated specific requirement modules.
The horizontal standard approach is hazard- rather than product-based. It has potential application to product design, modification and labelling, and, possibly, vertical standard development.
On 28 March 2007 the ACCC attended the launch of a 12-month trial of the PSF for nursery furniture.
It is expected that the trial will help to finetune the horizontal standards approach, and gather feedback on the efficacy of the horizontal standards framework and its application to nursery furniture, from the perspective of industry practitioners.
The ACCC understands that important issues—e.g. the level of expertise required to use the PSF system and the repeatability and reliability of outcomes achieved applying the PSF—will be explored in detail during the trial, by having various industry practitioners independently applying the framework to a number of products.
From a product safety perspective the ACCC considers that standards work best when they are accessible, comprehensible, concise and verifiable, providing consistent outcomes without stifling innovation or competition.
If trials are successful, the horizontal system could act to pool, store and codify existing product safety hazard identification, risk assessment and risk reduction expertise about nursery furniture. It is possible that the framework will also prove applicable to other product groups.
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1.Productivity Commission, ‘The importance of hazard identification, risk assessment and risk management’, Review of the Australian Product Safety System, 2006, p. 280.
