ACCC identifies false 'Product of Australia' claims by Waverley Woollen Mills for its 'Work Wear' jumpers

Waverley Woollen Mills Pty Ltd has admitted making false 'Product of Australia' claims for its Waverley Work Wear jumpers following an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigation. 

Fibre for the jumpers was spun in Australia, but the jumpers were woven in Vietnam and imported into Australia.

Waverley sold its Work Wear jumpers through its factory retail outlet in Launceston, Tasmania, between October 2008 and February 2009. The jumpers were acquired by Waverley with other assets when it bought the business in October 2008. 

Waverley has acknowledged that by representing its Work Wear jumpers as Product of Australia, when the jumpers were manufactured in Vietnam, it has likely contravened sections 52, 53(eb) and 55 of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
   
To ensure compliance with the Act, goods should only be represented as being a product of Australia if Australia is the country of origin of each significant component or ingredient of the goods, and all, or virtually all, of the processes involved in the production or manufacture of the goods occurred in Australia.

Waverley has given the ACCC court-enforceable undertakings that it will:

• publish a corrective notice in the Launceston Examiner newspaper and on its website acknowledging the falsity of its 'Product of Australia' claims for its Work Wear jumpers, and that it may be liable under the Act to compensate consumers who purchased the jumpers
• have its directors and sales staff undertake trade practices training designed to ensure that they are aware of their responsibilities under the Act, particularly in relation to country of origin claims.

"Waverley's claim that its Work Wear jumpers were a product of Australia falsely conveyed to consumers that the jumpers were manufactured in Australia," Acting ACCC Chairman, Mr Peter Kell, said today. "This false impression given by Waverley to consumers was reinforced by Waverley being a prominent Australian manufacturer of woollen items and the Waverley brand being represented on the labelling of the jumpers.

"A product of Australia claim is a premium country of origin claim and consumers are entitled to expect that goods displaying such a claim have been manufactured in Australia from Australian components or ingredients," he said. 

A copy of the undertaking will be available on the ACCC's website.

The relevant parts of the Act are: Section 52 which prohibits a corporation engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct or conduct likely to mislead or deceive.

Section 53(eb) prohibits a corporation making a false or misleading representation concerning the place of origin of its goods.

Section 55 prohibits a corporation engaging in conduct that is liable to mislead the public as to the nature, manufacturing process or characteristics of its goods.

Section 65AC provides a 'safe harbour' test for representations that goods are a product of a particular country, namely, that each significant component or ingredient of the goods comes from the nominated country, and that all, or virtually all, processes involved in the production or manufacture of the goods happened in the nominated country.