Sector: Consumer & retail

King hit for beef that’s not from the Island

October 17, 2012 | 1 Comments

On 14 August 2012 the Federal Court in Victoria found that the Melbourne-based butcher and retailer had contravened both the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and the equivalent provisions of the former Trade Practices Act (TPA),...

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Google and the Art of War

October 9, 2012 | 1 Comments

Sun Tzu: Whether to concentrate or to divide your troops, must be decided by circumstances Google is busy fighting a war on multiple fronts, with antitrust investigations ongoing in the US, the EU, India, Argentina...

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New Zealand’s Commerce Commission has reached a settlement with insurer IAG New Zealand Limited after it admitted to breaching the NZ Fair Trading Act in relation to more than 150,000 insurance policies. As a result...

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Justice Bennett v Justin Bieber

September 19, 2012 | 0 Comments

The Full Federal Court has dismissed an appeal by two Australian mobile premium service providers against an earlier judgment that particular advertisements were misleading or likely to mislead consumers about continuing premium rate mobile phone...

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ACCC gives industry a peek at its hand

September 14, 2012 | 1 Comments

As noted in our post on the UK petrol inquiry, Rod Sims gave a speech on 12 September 2012 to the Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association (available here), in which he outlined the ACCC’s...

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UK petrol stations under the pump

September 14, 2012 | 0 Comments

The crusades against petrol prices continue, with the UK OFT the latest regulator to take up the cause. Since at least February this year, the OFT has been fielding calls to investigate petrol retailers. It...

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Reinforcing the ACCC’s enforcement priorities

September 14, 2012 | 0 Comments

Rod Sims has been busy on the speaking circuit – further to Kat Evans’ report on a speech in Melbourne on the 12th of September, on the 13th of September 2012, the ACCC Chair addressed...

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In the past week, the ACCC and New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) have both defeated challenges to the prosecution of cartel conduct engaged in by companies that operate on an international scale. In Australia, the...

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Two more shots in the supermarket war

August 28, 2012 | 0 Comments

Two reports released last week attack the supermarket majors for anti-competitive practices, returning the focus to the ACCC’s consideration of groceries and adding to calls for a formal investigation. The peak employer organisation for independent...

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Bemused as we were to read this list of 16 items you can only buy at Chinese Wal-mart stores, of greater interest is MOFCOM’s recent decision to clear Wal-Mart’s acquisition of a controlling stake in...

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