Month: May 2014

In egg-citing news out of the Federal Court this week, the ACCC has instituted proceedings against two egg producing companies and the industry body Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL) for an attempt to induce AECL...

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ACCC bears down on cartels

May 26, 2014 | 0 Comments

On 13 May 2014, the Federal Court imposed a penalty of $3 million against NSK Australia, a supplier of ball bearings, for engaging in cartel conduct. The proceedings follow on from the ACCC’s proceedings against...

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Earlier this month, the ACCC added another $50,000 to its penalties piggy bank as a result of two further proceedings against Harvey Norman franchisees. This takes the total penalties ordered against Harvey Norman franchisees since December 2013...

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Cooperation on competition

May 23, 2014 | 0 Comments

Donny Low, Sharon Henrick and Elouise Brown have written an insightful article regarding the recently announced Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of...

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Playing the percentages

May 22, 2014 | 0 Comments

The new Hong Kong competition regulator is busy formulating draft guidelines on interpretation, investigation procedures and the handling of complaints under the still-new Competition Ordinance, prior to it entering into full effect.  The guidelines are...

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Taxing times for misleading franchisor

May 19, 2014 | 0 Comments

Last Friday, the Federal Court made orders by consent declaring that the defendant accounting firm, Taxsmart, made false and misleading representations about its graduate program for young accounting graduates, in contravention of section 18 of...

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CUB swims against the tide

May 15, 2014 | 0 Comments

The ACCC has taken action against Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) for representations on the labelling of Byron Bay Pale Lager that gave the impression it was brewed by a local Byron Bay brewer, when...

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The Abbott Government’s first Federal Budget brings no significant surprises from a competition and consumer law perspective. The ACCC has secured a modest amount of additional funding, largely to assist it to “monitor prices and...

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An economy based on merit, not muscle

May 12, 2014 | 0 Comments

As highlighted in a recent speech by the Minister for Small Business, Australia’s Federal Government clearly sees the current Review of Competition Policy as involving a broad remit that goes beyond reviewing the “competition law...

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CMA, SFO, MOU, ACCC, CDPP… in the context of recent UK and Australian cartel reforms and clarifications, these are the authorities involved in deciding whether you will face criminal proceedings for cartel conduct. We have...

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