Food, Health and Product Safety

Consumers International Global Congress; Nairobi, Kenya 06-08 December 2023; Building a resilient future for consumers; supporting partners COMESA Competition Commission and Competition Authority of Kenya

The Consumers International Congress 2023, held in beautiful Nairobi, Kenya, kicked off its first day with a stellar consumer protection agenda. Officially opened by the Deputy President of Kenya, His Excellency Rigathi Gachagua, E.G.H, the theme of building a resilient future for consumers was well and truly alive through the panel discussions and the conversations throughout the day. Below are some of the highlights from an action-packed Day 1!

Read More Fair, Safe and Sustainable – Day 1 of Consumers International Global Congress

“While we found that Coles may have an incentive to consolidate some of its milk volumes in the eastern states, this was unlikely to lead to a substantial lessening of competition,” Mr Keogh said.

“Coles will likely continue to face financial incentives to stock and support branded milk from other processors, due to the higher retail margins it earns on these products.”

In addition, the ACCC found that Coles’ commercial incentives to consolidate its milk supply would exist with or without the transaction due to the significant excess capacity at the Laverton and Erskine Park facilities.

Read More “[U]nlikely to result in a substantial lessening of competition”, ACCC Okays Coles Milk Plant Acquisitions

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Online national retailer Riff Raff Baby Pty Ltd has paid penalties of $132,000 after the ACCC issued it with eight infringement notices for allegedly making false or misleading statements about its comforter toys being safe for sleep from birth.

Riff Raff has also provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking in which it admits that the advertisements for its sleep aid toys were likely to have breached the Australian Consumer Law.

“Based on these advertisements by Riff Raff, parents and caregivers may have thought that these products are safe for babies to sleep next to in an unsupervised sleep environment, when in fact there are serious safety risks. These types of products can cover a baby’s nose and mouth, which can pose a risk of fatal suffocation,” ACCC Deputy Chair, Catriona Lowe said.

Read More Riff Raff Penalised Over Alleged False or Misleading Infant Sleep Aid Toys Ads

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Currently, the Disability Discrimination Act provides an exemption for life insurers to use genomic or genetic test results when underwriting life insurance contracts. Since 2019, an industry-regulated partial-moratorium has been in place that prohibits the use of these tests below certain financial limits.
The government encourages all interested parties to make a submission in response to the consultation paper, which can be found on the Treasury website.

Read More Consultation Opens on Use of Genetic Testing in Life Insurance

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Previously, the Consumers’ Federation of Australia has campaigned for changes to current labelling laws for seafood at cafes, restaurants and clubs – advocating for country of origin-specific labelling. Recently, the Albanese government has announced that while there will be changes to seafood country of origin labelling, the labelling will be restricted to differentiating between Australia and overseas.

The below press release from Senator the Hon Tim Ayres, Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Assistant Minister for Trade explains some of the reasoning behind the conversation and the government’s approach.

Read More Seafood Country of Origin Labelling Changes

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Digital platforms with significant market power can use practices like bundling or tying of products, pre-installation and default settings to limit customer choice or deter innovation from competitors.
“Australians increasingly use digital platforms for work, study and play and can benefit from their wide range of interconnected products and services. While the size and scale of digital platforms alone does not raise concern, there is a risk that this expansion may be driven by a desire from digital platforms to entrench or extend their market power,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

Read More Expansion of Digital Platforms Demonstrates “critical need for regulatory reform”

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“eSafety and indeed the wider community, expect that all online services, should be taking all reasonable steps to prevent their services from being used to store, share and distribute this horrific content and that’s what these standards are intended to achieve.”

Read More Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Opens Draft Industry Standards to Public Consultation

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Original media release by the ACCC (20/11/2023). Following a recommendation by the ACCC, the Assistant Treasurer, the Hon. Stephen Jones, has today issued a national safety warning notice to warn consumers of fire risks associated with recalled LG solar lithium-ion batteries which are installed in solar energy systems across the country. The safety warning notice was issued…

Read More National Safety Notice Issued for Recalled LG Solar Batteries

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“ACCAN has unfortunately continued to receive extremely concerning reports of victim-survivors being asked to engage with perpetrators,” said ACCAN Deputy CEO, Dr Gareth Downing.

“Technology-facilitated abuse is becoming more commonplace, and it is unconscionable that Australians facing DFV risk being cut off from potentially life-saving channels of communication, due to poor practices and processes on the part of some in industry” said Dr Downing.

Read More ACCAN Calls for Consumer Protection Against Domestic and Family Violence