The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has settled its long running action against the fertiliser company Reef Distributing Company Pty Ltd and its director Russell Loel.
Reef admitted making false and misleading representations in relation to the supply of fertiliser and chemical products to farmers. Reef offered products to farmers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia during the early 1990s.
In some cases, Reef had represented to farmers that the product would be supplied at no charge or that payment would only be required if farmers achieved an increase in output through use of the products. In other cases, Reef supplied the products on consignment or were unsolicited in that Reef supplied more of the product than the farmer had agreed to accept, or other types of product which the farmer had not agreed to accept. Reef then demanded payment from such farmers, including those where no increase in yield had been achieved, and instituted numerous claims in the Manly Local Court, ranging from $100 to $40,000.
On Friday Justice Einfeld of the Federal Court, Sydney accepted consent orders that Reef and Loel be restrained from:
- prosecuting 112 court proceedings currently on foot;
- seeking payment for goods supplied on a trial basis;
- seeking payment for goods supplied on the basis of an increase in crop yield unless there is evidence of such increase;
- seeking payment for goods supplied on consignment unless there is evidence that the quantity claimed has been used;and
- seeking payment for unsolicited goods.
Reef and Loel engaged in a course of misleading and deceptive conduct across four States, ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels, said today. The conduct targeted farmers who often did not have the time or resources to challenge claims instituted against them in the Sydney courts. Without the intervention of the ACCC these farmers may have had no choice but to pay the money claimed by Reef.
This case demonstrates the ACCCs commitment to protecting the rural community from unscrupulous traders.
[This case was originally instituted by the Trade Practices Commission in Melbourne in 1995.]
For further information about this media release: Professor Allan Fels, Chairman, (03) 9290 1812 Ms Lin Enright, Director, Public Relations, (02) 6243 1108