TIM forecasters could well take heed of Barworths' difficulties in meeting production goals;
[B]Federal Court Declares Claims about Viva Extra Virgin Olive Oils to be Misleading, Deceptive[/B]
The Federal Court, Adelaide has found that The South Australian Olive Corporation Pty Ltd and Inglewood Olive Processors Limited engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct about representations made about Viva Extra Virgin Olive Oils in television and magazine advertising and on product labels.
The advertisements and product labelling contained claims that Viva Extra Virgin Olive Oils were: products of Australia; made in Australia; and comprised entirely of olive oil from Australia
when in fact the oils were a blend that included [BI]up to 50 per cent imported oil.[/BI]
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged that these representations either stated and/or implied that Viva Extra Virgin Olive Oils were a product of Australia when they were not.
To meet the ‘Product of a country’ test prescribed by the Trade Practices Act 1974, each significant ingredient of the product must be sourced from the country represented to be the country of origin, and all, or virtually all, processes involved in the production or manufacture of the product must occur in that country.
As Viva Extra Virgin Olive Oils contained up to 50 per cent imported olive oil they did not meet the test prescribed by the Act and could not be called or implied to be a ‘Product of Australia’.
"Consumers will often make a purchase decision based on the country of origin of a product, especially Australian-made products", ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today. "They may even be prepared to pay a premium for Australian products and have the right to be confident that claims made on food and beverage labels are accurate".
As a result of the proceedings, the court declared that The South Australian Olive Corporation and Inglewood Olive Processors had:
engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in contravention of section 52 of the Act; made false representations about the olive oil in contravention of sections 53(a) and 53(eb) of the Act; engaged in conduct that was liable to mislead its customers or its potential customers as to the nature, manufacturing process or the characteristics of the olive oil in contravention of section 55 of the Act; granted an injunction restraining the companies from making the same or similar representations about olive oil for a period of three years where any of the olive oil is imported; and ordered that the companies place corrective advertisements in Australian Gourmet Traveller, Better Homes and Gardens, Delicious and Vogue Entertaining and nine daily newspapers.
The court also found that Mr Mark Troy, a director of The South Australian Olive Corporation, aided and abetted and was knowingly concerned in the conduct.
The Court noted that Mr Troy has undertaken to attend a Trade Practices Compliance Training Program approved by the Australian Compliance Institute.
The court orders were made with the consent of the parties.
In August 2002 the Viva brand was sold to Origin Olives Australasia Limited. Origin Olives was not a party to the contraventions.
Further information about the Trade Practices Act 1974 as it relates to country of origin claims is contained in the ACCC guidelines Country of origin claims and the Trade Practices Act, Food and beverage industry Country of origin guidelines to the Trade Practices Act, Textiles, clothing and footwear industries Country of origin guidelines to the Trade Practices Act, and Complementary health care industry Country of origin guidelines to the Trade Practices Act, available on the ACCC website and from all ACCC offices.
Further information Ms Jennifer McNeill, Commissioner responsible for consumer protection, (02) 6243 1115 Ms Lin Enright, Director, Public Relations (02) 6243 1108 or 0414 613 520 MR 154/03 16 July 2003
