Small businesses will soon enjoy the greatest protection in 30 years against predatory pricing and misuse of market power as the result of proposed changes to the law, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
Speaking at the National Small Business Summit in Sydney, he said after decades of inconsistent interpretation of the Trade Practices Act predatory pricing and misuse of market power provisions by the courts, the government was now preparing to remove blockages in the law that would allow the regulator to take more effective action on behalf of small businesses.
The ACCC has been actively working to assist small business on a number of fronts from protecting them from cartels (Visy), bullying conduct (resale price maintenance actions), misleading conduct (Telstra Next G) and scams (false business opportunities).
Mr Samuel said the ACCC took a holistic approach that recognises that small business are also consumers.
"Protecting their welfare means dealing with a number of issues, from scams to cartels, to bullying by other businesses.
"As spending contracts, businesses are likely to feel this pressure and are increasingly looking to the Trade Practices Act to ensure they are being adequately protected from unfair trading practices.
"With the strengthening of laws against the misuse of market power and predatory pricing, the ACCC is well placed to build on the strong work it already does to assist small businesses and give them an even better opportunity than they currently have to grow and prosper in our competitive market.
"Having long expressed their frustration at the inability of the predatory pricing provisions of the Trade Practices Act, and the lack of successful cases, small businesses are having some of those concerns now addressed.
"By identifying the real impediments that have prevented the law from functioning properly, the government is promising to clear aside the last remaining major blockages that have prevented more successful cases from flowing.
"The ACCC has not changed its stance – it stands ready to take appropriate cases as soon as our legal advice tells us we have reasonable grounds to do so.
"The result of more cases now being able to proceed will be a win for all those who look to the Trade Practices Act 1974 to protect the competitive process."
*The full address will be available on the ACCC website, under Media centre.