AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Greg Williams, Alexandra Rose, Caitlin Sheehy and Sarah Aljassim, Clayton Utz
ing substantiation notices and product safety notices, and prohibiting the making of certain representations in relation to a consumer prod - uct. Finally, the ACCC can issue penalty notices for breach of the Australian Consumer Law or commence proceedings seeking declaratory and injunctive relief as well as civil penalties. It may also refer certain breaches of the Australian Consumer Law to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecution for consideration of crimi - nal prosecution, with associated criminal penal - ties. State In addition to the federal regulator, each state and territory has a Department of Fair Trading or similar ‒ although the role of these entities in relation to product safety diminished following the commencement of the Australian Consum - er Law in 2011. Each state also has offices or regulators responsible for safety issues relating to gas, electricity and home building products. Product liability issues in these subject areas will often require engagement with both federal and state (or territory) authorities. Sector-Specific The other important sector-specific regulators are: • the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in respect of medicines, medical devices and a range of other therapeutic goods; • Foods Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) in respect of agricultural and veterinary chemi - cals; • the Office of the Gene Technology Regula - tor (OGTR) in respect of genetically modified organisms;
• the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduc - tion Scheme (AICIS) in respect of industrial chemicals; and • state and territory fair trading, electrical safety and home building regulators (as mentioned previously). The TGA, the APVMA, the OGTR and the AICIS each operate registration or licensing regimes that require certain products to be assessed and registered before they may be supplied or used in Australia. These regulators also have various investigatory, regulatory and enforcement pow - ers – the precise scope of which varies from regulator to regulator, but which are generally similar in scope to the ACCC’s powers in rela - tion to consumer goods, tailored to the par - ticular products in question. Subject to certain carve-outs, the regimes are not exclusive, so a product that falls, for example, within the TGA’s remit may also be ‒ in some circumstances ‒ a consumer product that is regulated by the ACCC and subject to the Australian Consumer Law. 1.3 Obligations to Commence Corrective Action The powers of the ACCC and other Australian regulators, as summarised in 1.2 Regulatory Authorities for Product Safety , include pow - ers to compel local sponsors, suppliers and/or manufacturers to take certain actions in relation to goods. By way of example, the ACCC may require corrective action or information to be supplied regarding goods, order a compulsory recall (in rare circumstances), issue an interim or permanent ban on the supply of specified prod - ucts, or create an information or safety standard in relation to particular products. However, outside situations where the ACCC or the TGA has created a specific obligation in relation to particular goods, the institution
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