Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1
On 18 March 2015, the Hon Bruce Billson, Minister for Small Business,
introduced the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Deregulatory and Other
Measures) Bill 2015 (the bill) into the House of Representatives. Pursuant to
the Selection of Bills Committee's report tabled on 26 March 2015, the Senate
referred the provisions of bill to the committee for inquiry and report by 13
May 2015.[1]
Conduct of inquiry
1.2
The committee advertised the inquiry on its website and in The
Australian. It also wrote to relevant stakeholders and interested
parties inviting submissions by 21 April 2015. The committee received seven
submissions, which are listed at Appendix 1.
1.3
In light of the response to the committee's call for submissions, the
committee resolved not to hold a public hearing but to base its report on the written
submissions. It did, however, write to the Department of Treasury (the
Treasury) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) seeking
additional information in order to clarify some matters raised in submissions. See
Appendix 2 for the responses.
Background
1.4
On 13 June 2014, Commonwealth, state and territory ministers responsible
for fair trading and consumer protection issued a joint communiqué on their intention to
pursue measures to streamline the administration of Australian Consumer Law
(ACL). They agreed to consider how to 'reduce compliance burdens, as part of
the strong red tape reduction agendas across their jurisdictions, while
preserving important consumer protections'.[2]
1.5
The provisions of the bill implement a number of measures to give effect
to this agreement.[3]
Consultation
1.6
The Explanatory Memorandum makes clear that the measures outlined in the
bill were 'developed in consultation with a range of stakeholders, including
state and territory consumer agencies, food regulators and industry, where
required'. It noted further that a majority of states and territories agreed to
the measures relating to the ACL, as required under the Intergovernmental
Agreement for the ACL signed on 2 July 2009 by the Council of Australian
Governments.[4]
Purpose of the bill
1.7
The bill implements a number of measures intended to streamline the
administration of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) in order to
reduce compliance burdens for businesses, individuals and within government. It
does so, while preserving the protections available under the CCA. The bill's
principal focus is on Schedule 2 of the ACL. In brief, the bill would:
-
remove the requirement for businesses to report serious injuries,
illnesses or deaths associated with food products under the ACL's product
safety law; and
-
permit private parties to take action for extra-territorial
breaches of the CCA without seeking ministerial consent under section 5 of the
CCA.[5]
1.8
The proposed legislation also includes a number of other measures to
amend the CCA (in particular the ACL) in order to improve its administration
and correct minor drafting errors. The Explanatory Memorandum records that the Treasury
had estimated the regulatory savings to be $0.5 million per annum for
businesses.[6]
1.9
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the provisions of the bill are
compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised in Part 3 of the Human
Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.[7]
1.10
The main reason supporting the referral of this proposed legislation for
examination was for the committee to consider the potential food safety and
regulatory effects of the bill.[8]
In particular, the inquiry was intended to clarify whether the current
requirements to report some types of food related deaths, injury and illnesses
to the ACCC duplicated other requirements or whether the reporting to the ACCC
was the only reporting of such events and/or the only national data collection
of such events.[9]
Structure of report
1.11
This report comprises two chapters: this introduction and Chapter 2,
which examines the arguments for and against the proposed amendments. The
committee's findings are outlined at the end of the report.
Acknowledgments
1.12
The committee thanks all the individuals and organisations that provided
a submission to this inquiry.
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