The Commerce Commission and the Department of Labour are inviting all Wanganui business people to a seminar about the Fair Trading Act and the Health and Safety in Employment Act on Wednesday March 5.

The Chief Investigator from the Commission's Wellington office, Ross McPherson, said he hopes there will be an excellent response from business people.

"We will be talking about two of the most important laws that affect businesses every day, and, afterwards, there will be plenty of time for questions and informal discussion over finger food," Mr McPherson said.

As well as giving the seminar, Commission and Department staff will be in Wanganui from Monday to Wednesday visiting shops and talking to owners and managers.

They will be talking to business people and shop staff about issues that have come up in their work.

"This is a great opportunity for business people to increase their knowledge of the law," Mr McPherson said. "Neither the Commission nor the Department has an office in Wanganui, and it is more difficult for business people to make contact with us, so we are coming to them.

"It is an education exercise. We want people to understand how to operate within the law to protect themselves and their customers."

In Wanganui, Commission staff will be making particular effort to visit motor vehicle dealers, computer retailers, appliance dealers, gyms and cellphone dealers.

"We are not suggesting there are particular problems with these traders in Wanganui," Mr McPherson said. "Our nation-wide statistics show that these are areas where business people want more information about how the Fair Trading Act applies to them."

They will also be visiting bicycle shops, toy shops and shops that sell children's night clothes because these are all covered by product safety standards made mandatory by the Fair Trading Act.

Seminar details

Venue:

Avenue Motor Inn, Wanganui

Date:March 5

Time:6pm - 8pm (doors open 5.30pm)

Cost:$15 (inc. GST) per head includes finger food (no charge for media)

Cheques to Commerce Commission, PO Box 2351, Wellington, Attention Olive Barry (door sales will be available on the night)

Speakers: Commerce Commission Fair Trading Manager Rachel Leamy

Department of Labour Occupational Safety and Health Inspector Ashley Lock

Commerce Commission staff in Wanganui March 3-5

Chief Investigator Ross McPherson, Investigators Fa'amoana Pao and Bruce Cossill, and Projects Officer Estelle Le Lievre. Fair Trading Manager Rachel Leamy will be in Wanganui on Wednesday afternoon and at the seminar.

Department of Labour staff in Wanganui March 3-5

Occupational Safety and Health Inspectors Ashley Lock and Beverley Taylor.

Media contacts

Commerce Commission

Chief Investigator Ross McPherson, Wanganui March 3-5, cellphone 021 662 773,

Wellington (04) 498 0909.

Fair Trading Manager Rachel Leamy, Wanganui at the seminar, Wellington (04) 498 0908.

Communications Officer Vince Cholewa, work (04) 498 0920, home (04) 479 1432.

Department of Labour

Occupational Safety and Health Inspector Ashley Lock, Wanganui March 3-5 cellphone

025 437 189

Palmerston North (06) 359 1919

Background

Commerce Commission

The Commerce Commission exists to bring about awareness and acceptance of, and compliance with, the Commerce and Fair Trading Acts.

Fair Trading Act

The Fair Trading Act prohibits false or misleading representations, and gives the Minister of Consumer Affairs the power to make product safety and consumer information standards mandatory. It generally applies before a sale is made.

There are three product safety standards made mandatory by the Fair Trading Act. They are for:

  • bicycles
  • fire safety of children's night clothes
  • toys for children aged up to three years (to prevent choking)

There are three consumer information standards made compulsory by the Act. They are:

  • country of origin labelling for clothing and footwear
  • fibre content of textile goods
  • care labelling of textile goods

Recent action by the Commission includes:

  • a computer company was fined $50,000 for selling computer components which did not have the memory claimed for them
  • a car dealer was fined a total of $50,000 on two charges of calling used cars new
  • a retailer was fined $25,000 for three charges of selling unsafe bicycles
  • a lawyer and his company were fined $20,000 for misleading land buyers
  • a bank was fined $16,000 for using misleading mortgage ads
  • the Court of Appeal defined when so called "free" promotions are misleading
  • the Auckland District Court ruled that in interest free promotions, the interest free price must be the same as the advertised cash price
  • the Christchurch District Court ruled that "we will pay your interest" promotions are the same as interest free promotions

Education

The Commission puts considerable effort into educating business people about the Fair Trading Act. As well as media publicity, it holds seminars, visits areas where it has no office, provides speakers for conferences and works in particular with nation-wide traders. It also publishes two newsletters and a wide range of free pamphlets about the Acts it enforces.

Occupational Safety and Health

The Occupational Safety and Health Service administers the Health and Safety in Employment Act which states the minimum requirements to manage health and safety in the workplace. It also administers supporting regulations, codes of practice and industry guidelines.

The Act puts the primary responsibility on the employer, who has a duty to provide a safe and healthy work environment. It offers a new approach for promoting excellence in the management of health and safety in places of work.

During the visits to shops and businesses, information packages will be given out to help assist with setting up health and safety systems. The package is set up to help meet the minimum requirements of the Act.

The package is called 3 Steps to Make Your Business Safer and Healthier and is a useful aid to implementing the requirements of the Act.