Seven outdoor adventure equipment suppliers have given court-enforceable undertakings and will correct claims they made on labels and in promotions about the content of their down-filled sleeping bags and clothing.
The undertakings have been accepted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as a means of facilitating industry-wide compliance with the Trade Practices Act 1974 in the outdoor adventure equipment industry.
The seven outdoor adventure equipment suppliers are: Adventure One Pty Ltd, Arthur Ellis Limited, Kathmandu Pty Ltd, Macpac Wilderness Equipment Limited, Mont Adventure Equipment Pty Ltd, Mountain Designs Pty Ltd, and Paddy Pallin Pty Ltd.
The undertakings address ACCC concerns that the seven suppliers may have breached sections 52, 53(a) and 55 of the Act by misrepresenting that their down-filled sleeping bags and down-filled clothing items contained a specified percentage of goose down or down, such as 100 per cent or minimum 90 per cent.
Sample tests of the seven suppliers' down-filled sleeping bags undertaken on behalf of the ACCC indicated that all of the tested sleeping bags contained significantly less than the percentage of goose down or down claimed. The ACCC found that for the sleeping bags claimed to contain 100 per cent goose down or down, the actual percentage of goose down or down present in the sleeping bags ranged from 74 per cent to 91 per cent.
The seven suppliers informed the ACCC that their various '100%' and 'minimum 90%' down content claims had been made in reliance on their interpretation of the labelling tolerances specified in the voluntary Australian Standard for down and feather filled products (AS 2479-1987: Down and/or feather filling materials and filled products).
"While the ACCC understands that some of the issues with advertising and labelling in the outdoor down products industry may have arisen because of an interpretation of the voluntary Australian Standard for down and feather-filled products, the need to advertise and label accurately under the Trade Practices Act overrides any tolerances that may be allowed in a voluntary industry standard", ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
"This matter should serve as a further reminder to all businesses that there is no room for any ambiguity when making absolute claims about the content of their products.
"The ACCC notes that its view is similar to that publicly stated by the United States and New Zealand consumer protection authorities: Where a business makes a representation in its advertising or labelling that a product contains a particular percentage of some thing, then that percentage must in all cases be met, or exceeded. Consumers are entitled to make informed decisions based on factual information".
The seven outdoor adventure equipment suppliers have undertaken to:
- not promote that any down sleeping bags or down clothing items contain 100 per cent down, given that normal commercial manufacturing processes are very unlikely to achieve 100 per cent down content
- not make any other down content percentage representations which include any percentage tolerance or allowance
- not make any representations as to down percentage content that they cannot substantiate by way of testing of their finished down products by an International Down & Feather Bureau accredited testing organisation
- place a corrective notice on their respective internet websites for three months advising consumers of the above labelling and advertising issues, and subsequent undertakings to the ACCC
- jointly place corrective newspaper advertisements in each State and Territory in which their sleeping bags have been sold, and
- implement and maintain a trade practices compliance program.