Consumer watchdog the ACCC received 2900 complaints about small businesses during the first half of 2013, including 1107 related to misleading representations and 374 complaints about consumer guarantees.
“Credence claims are important and we need to protect honest small businesses, who are selling premium products, from unscrupulous competitors making false representations,” Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chairman Michael Schaper says.
“The ACCC has been very active in policing credence claims in a wide variety of different markets – from meat claiming to be sourced from King Island to Australian made tags on Ugg boots that are actually made in China.”
Premier Retail chief executive Mark McInnes, who oversees a number of brands including Just Jeans, Jay Jays and Peter Alexander, has attacked the federal government during a speech to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne
“I have lost count of the number of Australian retail businesses that have gone under in the past few years: Borders, Fletcher Jones, Bettina Liano, Sleep City, Ojay, Payless Shoes, Angus & Robertson, Darrell Lea, Mothercare, and just recently fashion icons Lisa Ho and Kirrily Johnston,” McInnes.
“The issue is allowing overseas retailers to import – duty and tax free – the same products that Australian retailers are forced to charge their customers duty and tax for.
“It is gross hypocrisy to say you are putting Australian jobs first in a multi-million-dollar ad campaign, when you maintain a policy that causes tens of thousands of Australians to lose their jobs to overseas companies who pay no taxes and provide no jobs.”
McDonald’s has released lower-than-expected profit figures for the second quarter, largely off the back of weak sales in Europe and tough competition in the US, as its net income grew 3.7% to $US1.40 billion.
Same restaurant sales growth in the US was at 1%, well below analysts’ estimates of 1.5% off the back of strong competition from rivals, while the burger conglomerate’s European sales dropped by 0.1% during the second quarter, while sales in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) region fell by 0.3%.
“Based on recent sales trends, our results for the remainder of the year are expected to remain challenged,” chief executive Don Thompson says.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.01% to 15545.55. The Aussie dollar was down to US92.47 cents.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
