Legislation was signed by the President of the United States of America on 14 August making significant amendments to the US consumer protection laws on product safety. The enacted Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act provides for significant increases to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s size and budget and changes to safety regulations. The new Act will require the safety of chemicals to be proven, rather than the previous proof of harm test, it will also see lead in children’s products banned to trace amounts and certain chemicals found in plastic products, known as phthalates, banned completely.
Consumers win in cosmetic price fixing settlement
Several major US stores—including Macy’s, Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus—and a number of cosmetic companies have agreed to an A$175 million court settlement after more than four years of litigation. The department stores and designer brands were alleged to have conspired to sell products at the manufacturers' suggested price only—never at a discount. It also alleged that special promotions were coordinated in a way that ensured there would be no competition among stores. Under the terms of the settlement, millions of eligible consumers will receive up to A$30 in free cosmetic products from companies such as Chanel, Estee Lauder, L'Oreal, Clinique and Christian Dior.
International reports released
NZ fuel review
The New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development released their petrol price review, titled ACCC report into Australian petrol prices for applicability to the New Zealand petrol market, in August.
The key findings of the review were that:
the New Zealand petrol market is fundamentally competitive
retail petrol prices are not fast to rise and slow to fall
recent price rises are mainly due to increases in crude oil prices overseas
a Fuelwatch scheme like Australia’s would not benefit consumers because of differences in how the market works
more transparency about the makeup of importer margins and a move to report daily margin movements would be useful for consumers.
United Kingdom review of airports provisional findings
On 20 August the Competition Commission (CC) released its provisional findings that there are competition problems at each of BAA’s seven UK airports. In early 2007 the Office of Fair Trading referred the supply of airport services by BAA in the UK to the CC for investigation The CC is now consulting on a number of proposed remedies including: divestiture; changes to regulation; scope of regulation; behavioural remedies pending regulatory change; recommendations on government policy; and separate development and ownership of airport terminals. If these proposed remedies are implemented, the CC will order BAA to sell two of its three London airports, and also either Edinburgh or Glasgow airport. (The findings are on the Competition Commission website)
United Kingdom Ofcom communications report
The Office of Communications (Ofcom) has published a market report highlighting key trends and developments in the communications sector over the past year. The Communications market 2008 notes that the trend towards convergence has continued and highlights increased usage of communications services, in particular mobile and internet services, and reduced average household expenditure on communications services. (The report is available at www.ofcom.org.uk.)
New Zealand franchising review, discussion paper
The New Zealand Commerce Minister has released a discussion document for the Ministry of Economic Development’s review of franchising regulation to explore whether there are any widespread problems in the franchising sector which may require franchise specific regulation. The franchising review discussion paper can be viewed on the Ministry of Economic Development’s website.
