ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said that Australia already has an excellent process for identifying offenders like LG.
"Firstly we have the vendors who are very quick to come to us re their competitors, then there is the consumers who often complain at a local fair trading level, then we have Choice who are an independent not for profit organisation who are constantly testing products in Australia".
Samuel acknowledged that it was Choice who recently referred LG to the ACCC for investigation following the discovery that two LG refrigerators were being falsely marketed in Australia and that they did not meet the energy performance criteria specified in LG marketing.
"Nine times out of ten it is a competitor that identifies a problem. This was the case recently when we investigated LED TV sales in Australia. Vendors are doing this because they know it damages the reputation of the industry. We saw this last week with LG. I think LG would rather have headlines talking about the innovation in their products rather than a headline where they are accused of false representation. The vendors are very quick to come to us with complaints about their competitors".
Samuels said that the ACCC constantly had to evaluate what a consumer was told by a retailer and that in the consumer electronics industry the constant launching of new products by vendors was causing a problem. He also said that going forward the ACCC will be armed with new penalties that could result in a retailer or a vendor being fined up to $1.1 million for a misleading or deceptive conduct offence.
