APPENDIX 3
The Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA) was renamed the Competition
and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) with effect from 1 July 2010. Subsequent
amendment created the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) which commenced on 1
January 2011.[1]
The ACL is located in Schedule 2 to the CCA. When the ACL was created it moved
the consumer protection provisions into Schedule 2 and updated the consumer protection
provisions by using a more ‘plain English’ approach. However it did not
fundamentally change the content of the laws about country of origin
representation.
Under the ACL:
- section
18 provides a general prohibition against conduct that misleads or deceives or
is likely to mislead or deceive;
- paragraph
29(1)(a) provides a broad prohibition against making a false representation
that goods, among other things, have a particular history. Importantly, a
representation about the country of origin of goods is a representation of the
history of those particular goods;
- paragraph
29(1)(k) provides a specific prohibition against making a false or misleading
representation about the place of origin of goods; and
- section
33 prohibits a person from engaging in conduct which is liable to mislead the
public as to the nature, manufacturing process, the characteristics,
suitability for their purpose or the quantity of any goods. A representation
about country of origin may be a representation about the nature, manufacturing
process or the characteristics of particular goods.
In addition, the ACL sets out the 'safe harbour' provisions
in table form for easier reading. These provisions have been developed from
court decisions that have been made using the legislation itself.
Section 255 of the CCA provides that the sections above are
not contravened if the requirements set out in the table below are met:[2]
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Representation
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Requirements to be met
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|
1 A representation as to the country of origin of goods
|
(a) the goods have been
substantially transformed in that country; and
(b) 50% or more of the total
cost of producing or manufacturing the goods as worked out under section 256
is attributable to production or manufacturing processes that occurred in
that country; and
(c) the representation is not a
representation to which item 2 or 3 of this table applies.
|
|
2 A representation that goods are the produce of a
particular country
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(a) the country was the country
of origin of each significant ingredient or significant component of the
goods; and
(b) all, or virtually all,
processes involved in the production or manufacture happened in that country.
|
|
3 A representation as to the country of origin of goods by
means of a logo specified in the regulations
|
(a) the goods have been
substantially transformed in the country represented by the logo as the country
of origin of the goods; and
(b) the prescribed percentage
of the cost of producing or manufacturing the goods as worked out under
section 256 is attributable to production or manufacturing processes that happened
in that country.
|
|
4 A representation that goods were grown in a particular
country
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(a) the country is the country
that could, but for subsection (2), be represented, in accordance with this
Part, as the country of origin of the goods, or the country of which the
goods are the produce; and
(b) each significant ingredient
or significant component of the goods was grown in that country; and
(c) all, or virtually all,
processes involved in the production or manufacture happened in that country.
|
|
5 A representation that ingredients or components of goods
were grown in a particular country
|
(a) the country is the country
that could, but for subsection (2), be represented, in accordance with this
Part, as the country of origin of the goods, or the country of which the
goods are the produce; and
(b) each ingredient or
component that is claimed to be grown in that country was grown only in that
country; and
(c) each ingredient or
component that is claimed to be grown in that country was processed only in
that country; and
(d) 50% or more of the total
weight of the goods is comprised of ingredients or components that were grown
and processed only in that country.
|
Note: The regulations may prescribe rules for determining the
percentage of the total costs of production or manufacture of goods
attributable to production or manufacturing.
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