In his annual CEDA address, Chairman Rod Sims announces the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement priorities. Mr Sims outlines several new priorities and some continuing areas of focus in protecting consumers and small businesses. He also discusses key competition cases as well as the ACCC's approach to advocacy and market studies.
The Federal Court has declared that Little Company of Mary Health Care Ltd (LCMHC) and Calvary Health Care Riverina Ltd (Calvary Riverina) (jointly known as Calvary) engaged in exclusive dealing conduct that was likely to have an anti-competitive effect in the supply of day surgery services in Wagga Wagga. Calvary’s conduct related to the adoption of bylaws concerning the accreditation of medical practitioners to use Calvary medical facilities.
The Federal Court yesterday ordered Homeopathy Plus! Pty Ltd (Homeopathy Plus) to pay penalties of $115,000 and its director, Ms Frances Sheffield, to pay $23,000 in penalties for making false or misleading representations about the effectiveness of the whooping cough vaccine and homeopathic remedies as an alternative to the whooping cough vaccine, in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released a guide to assist egg producers better understand their Australian Consumer Law (ACL) rights and obligations when promoting their products as free range.
The guide explains the ACCC’s approach to enforcing misleading conduct provisions of the ACL, in the context of free range egg claims, while the Commonwealth Treasury is consulting on whether Australia should adopt a national standard on free range egg labelling.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Lifestyle Photographers Pty Ltd, trading as Expression Sessions.
The ACCC alleges that Expression Sessions made false or misleading representations and engaged in misleading or deceptive and unconscionable conduct when selling photography products.
The Federal Court in Brisbane has found Mr Robert Paul Davies guilty of aiding and abetting the failure by Natural Food Vending Pty Ltd (Natural Food Vending) to comply with a compulsory notice issued by the ACCC.
Mr Davies defended the charge, but was found guilty of an offence against section 155(5) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (now called the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) (the Act).
The Federal Court has declared that RL Adams Pty Ltd, trading as Darling Downs Fresh Eggs, engaged in misleading conduct and made misleading representations in its labelling and promotion of eggs as ‘free range’, in proceedings brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The Court ordered that Darling Downs Fresh Eggs pay a pecuniary penalty of $250,000.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is reminding grocery suppliers about new protections they have under the Food & Grocery Code of Conduct, which has rules about grocery supply agreements, payments, termination of agreements, dispute resolution and a range of other matters.
The voluntary code complements existing protections under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including the unconscionable conduct provisions.