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AUSTRALIA AND CANADA UNITE TO PROTECT CONSUMERS
Australia and Canada have finalised successful bilateral talks to strengthening co-operation between the agencies to boost consumer protection measures.
The two countries competition authorities - Canada’s Competition Bureau and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission - have agreed to attack mass-marketing fraud together, in partnership with other jurisdictions, sending the clear message to fraudsters that there is no place for them to work with impunity.
Mass-marketing fraud included Internet scams, fraudulent tele-marketing and other attempts to deceive consumers.
The bilateral announcement follows a visit to Australia by Ms Sheridan Scott, the Canadian Commissioner of Competition, who met with the Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Mr Graeme Samuel.
Mr Samuel said that Ms Scott’s visit included productive meetings based on the sharing of best practices initiatives and identifying areas for further co-operation.
Ms Scott said that Canada’s Competition Bureau had always understood the importance of exchanging ideas with its international colleagues and her visit had been an excellent opportunity to deepen and broaden that work.
Both leaders agreed that in today's globalised economy, international dialogue among competition authorities was ever more important.
Ms Scott applauded an Australian government initiative to introduce criminal sanctions for cartels, saying such a measure would lead to deeper cooperation between the two countries in battling this anti-competitive behaviour.
The two agencies also committed to push forward the agenda of the International Competition Network, a global group of about 100 competition authorities which sought practical ways to enhance co-operation and urge for the adoption of recommended practices among jurisdictions.
Mr Samuel said that the talks with Ms Scott, who was also the Chairman of the International Competition Network, were important, as increasingly, Australian consumers were subject to global anti-competitive conduct and harmful consumer practices and it was important that consumer protection agencies worked collaboratively.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission was an independent statutory authority responsible for administering the Trade Practices Act 1974 which promotes competition, fair trading and facilitates consumer protection for the welfare of all Australians.
Canada’s Competition Bureau was an independent law enforcement agency which promoted and maintained fair competition - enabling all Canadians to benefit from competitive prices, product choice and quality services. It oversees the application of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Textile Labelling Act and the Precious Metals Marking Act.
Canberra
15 August 2007