ACCC launches guidance on country of origin labelling for businesses
Today, the ACCC has published its revised guidance on country of origin labelling which will help businesses comply with the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) when making country of origin claims.
The ACL provides ‘safe harbour’ defences for ‘Made in’, ‘Product of’ and ‘Grown in’ country of origin claims. If goods satisfy the criteria, the business is deemed not to have engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct or made a false or misleading representation under certain sections of the ACL. Businesses that do not qualify for these defences are still able to make country of origin claims provided they are not false, misleading or deceptive.The ACCC’s guidance provides information and examples to illustrate when businesses can rely on the ‘safe harbour’ defences in the ACL.
The Country of origin claims and the Australian Consumer Law publication is available on the ACCC website. For further information, please also see the ACCC’s media release.
Government releases competition review papers
The Harper panel has now released an issues paper and fact sheet regarding the Australian Government’s ‘root and branch’ review of competition laws and policy.
Copies of these documents are attached and can be found online at http://competitionpolicyreview.gov.au/consultation/
Submissions will be open until Tuesday 10 June 2014 and can be submitted online at http://competitionpolicyreview.gov.au/submissions/.
