The Canadian Competition Bureau and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today announced the conclusion of successful bilateral talks aimed at strengthening co-operation between the agencies.
The two competition authorities have agreed to attack mass-marketing fraud together, in partnership with other jurisdictions, sending the clear message to fraudsters that there is no place for them to work with impunity. Mass-marketing fraud encompasses Internet scams, fraudulent telemarketing and other attempts to deceive consumers.
The announcement comes at the end of a fact-finding and information-sharing trip to Australia by Ms Sheridan Scott, Canadian Commissioner of Competition. "These were productive meetings based on the sharing of best practices and identifying areas for further co-operation," ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
"The Competition Bureau has always understood the importance of exchanging ideas with its international colleagues and this has been an excellent opportunity to deepen and broaden that work," Ms Scott said.
Mr Samuel and Ms Scott agreed that in today's globalised economy, international dialogue among competition authorities is ever more important.
In that regard, Ms Scott applauded an Australian government initiative to introduce criminal sanctions for cartels, saying such a measure "would lead to deeper cooperation between our countries in battling this anti-competitive behaviour."
The two agencies further committed to pushing forward the agenda of the International Competition Network, a global group of about 100 competition authorities which seeks practical ways to enhance co-operation and drive the adoption of recommended practices among jurisdictions.
Mr Samuel said that the discussions with Ms Scott, who is also the Chair of the International Competition Network, were important as increasingly Australian consumers are subject to global anti-competitive conduct and harmful consumer practices and it is important that agencies work collaboratively.
The ACCC is an independent statutory authority with responsibility for administering the Trade Practices Act 1974 which promotes competition, fair trading and facilitates consumer protection for the welfare of all Australians.
The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that promotes and maintains fair competition so that all Canadians can benefit from competitive prices, product choice and quality services. It oversees the application of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packagingand Labelling Act, the Textile Labelling Act and the Precious Metals Marking Act.
