The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will further streamline the authorisation process for small businesses in respect of standard collective bargaining arrangements, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, announced today.
"The process will be available from 1 January 2006", he said.
"For many years the ACCC has provided an accessible authorisation process for small business collective bargaining arrangements allowing bargaining groups to form in areas as diverse as chicken growing, dairy farming and vegetable growing to concrete carting, pay television services and wagering.
"For some time, however, the ACCC has promoted a simpler and more streamlined process, noting concern from small businesses over the time and cost involved in past authorisation applications".
Under the streamlined authorisation process, the ACCC will undertake to deal with applications within certain timetables and with a better indication of likely outcomes.
"The ACCC will be undertaking:
- to provide responses to interim authorisation (providing immediate immunity to arrangements) requests within 28 days of receiving a request for interim authorisation, and
- to issue a draft determination within the first 28 days and a final determination within three months of receiving an application.
"In the past the ACCC has been reluctant to grant interim authorisation unless a special case had been made by the applicant.
"Under the new streamlined authorisation process the ACCC will be providing greater certainty to applicants and a more timely response".
The ACCC has issued a short guide (available at www.accc.gov.au) setting out the type of applications that will be likely to receive interim authorisation under the streamlined process and the type of information the ACCC would expect to be provided in any application.
Generally speaking, applications for authorisation are more likely to receive interim authorisation if they are voluntary and in which the coverage of bargaining groups is limited. Arrangements that also have the support of the counterparty are unlikely to be objected to.
"The new streamlined authorisation process will allow small businesses to receive the benefits of a more timely collective bargaining process", Mr Samuel said.