The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is urging businesses to review their country of origin labels now to ensure they comply with the Australian Consumer Law.
“In particular, businesses should review any claims on their product labelling or advertising which suggests that the product was ‘Made in’ a particular country,” ACCC Deputy Chair Dr Michael Schaper said.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Apple Pty Limited and its US-based parent company, Apple Inc., (together, Apple) alleging that Apple made false, misleading, or deceptive representations about consumers’ rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
Traders and growers need to keep a written record of any other grower or trader they deal with for at least six years. In addition there are specific record keeping obligations for both traders and growers.
We have a range of enforcement options available to us, including issuing warnings, investigating the conduct, issuing infringement notices or commencing legal proceeding.
Under the Horticulture Code growers and traders can use any procedures they choose to resolve a dispute. However, the Code has a dispute resolution process that must be followed if it is initiated by one of the parties.
The Horticulture Code requires growers and traders to have a written contract, called a Horticulture produce Agreement (HPA) before they can trade with each other..
Under the Horticulture Code, traders and growers must deal with each other in good faith. Failure to deal in good faith can lead to penalties for breaching the Code.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has a number of in-depth investigations underway across a range of industries following the introduction of the new business-to-business (B2B) unfair contract terms laws in November 2016.
Delivering the keynote address at a UNSW forum on recent developments in competition and consumer law, ACCC Deputy Chair Dr Michael Schaper said the regulator would be taking enforcement action in relation to a number of companies over B2B unfair contract terms this year.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released a Statement of Issues expressing initial concerns about the proposed acquisition by Caltex Australia Petroleum (ASX:CTX) of a chain of 46 service stations in Victoria from Milemaker Petroleum.
The ACCC’s preliminary view is that the acquisition may substantially lessen competition for the retail supply of petrol in Melbourne.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest Small Business in Focus report reveals that micro and small businesses made 7,000 complaints and enquiries from July 1 to December 31 2016.
“Over 60 per cent of business contacts were from micro enterprises of four or under employees, which isn’t surprising given that micro firms are the biggest group of businesses in Australia,” ACCC Acting Chair Dr Michael Schaper said.