Welcome to the December 2020 edition of the Addisons Direct Selling Legal Update.
As the year draws to a close, we look at some of the legal issues which are relevant to those operating in the direct selling sector.
TGA classifies sports supplements as therapeutic goods effective 30 November 2020
A declaration under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (Cth) has been published which mandates that, from 30 November 2020, certain sports supplements must be regulated as therapeutic goods.
The declaration requires certain sports supplements to be entered on the ARTG (if intended to be marketed as medicines) or to alter their product claims, ingredients and/or dosage forms. Sports supplements, which become classified as therapeutic goods as a result of the declaration, will no longer be able to rely on the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act to enter the Australian market via New Zealand. Those sports supplements which are supplied in the dosage form of a tablet, capsule or pill (other those supplements which contain glucose only) and which do not contain any specified substances, must be entered on the ARTG by 30 November 2023. Now is the time to start planning for 2023!
Big Business Beware! Small businesses will soon be able to join forces and bargain against you with fewer hurdles
Under a class exemption recently made by the ACCC which is likely to take effect in early 2021, small businesses (including independent contractors) will be provided with a “safe harbour” to co-ordinate their negotiations with customers or suppliers over common issues without breaching competition laws and without first needing to seek specific ACCC approval. This has the potential to significantly impact businesses that contract with small businesses.
Enhancing Protection for Small Businesses – proposed reforms to unfair contract term provisions under the Australian Consumer Law
Federal and State and Territory consumer affairs ministers have agreed to reform the existing unfair contract term protections under the Australian Consumer Law. If passed, these reforms will expand the application of the unfair contract term protections to a greater number of small businesses and will offer clearer guidance on when the protections apply.
Direct Selling Australia – Legal & Regulatory Webinar
Direct Selling Australia hosted a Legal and Regulatory Webinar on 22 October 2020. Partner Jamie Nettleton and Special Counsel Cate Sendall were pleased to present on:
- Unfair contract term provisions in the Australian Consumer Law, including:
- How to identify unfair contract terms
- Steps to make unfair contract terms fair and enforceable
- New disclosure obligations in the NSW Fair Trading Act relating to consumer contracts, concerning:
- Substantially prejudicial terms
- Financial interests of intermediaries.
While the webinar was not recorded, the Addisons slides are available to download here.
COVID 19 – Prevention and cure claims – advertisers beware!
The COVID-19 pandemic has led Australian regulators to issue warnings about advertisers making claims regarding their products’ effectiveness in combatting the virus.
This paper provides a handy overview of the obligations which apply to direct selling companies and independent sales persons when making claims about product performance characteristics and suggests the steps which businesses should take to ensure compliance obligations are met.
Changes to the Australian Consumer Law – expanding the consumer guarantees
It is time to dust off those terms and conditions of sale or supply. The scope of goods and services subject to consumer guarantees is being expanded. You need to consider whether the goods and services sold by your business automatically come with consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law. If they do, you may need to make changes to your terms and conditions of sale to comply.
Product Recall – My product has a safety issue, what do I do?
Think you might need to recall a product? In this paper, we outline exactly when product recalls are required under the Australian Consumer Law and provide a useful outline on how to conduct one. If you need further help, don’t hesitate to reach out to a member of the Addisons team.
Australian Government moves one step closer to allowing greater access to CBD
After a review of a substantial number of public submissions, the Delegate of the Secretary of the Department of Health has issued an interim decision concerning the regulation of cannabidiol (CBD) in Australia. This represents an important step in Australia’s regulatory treatment of CBD towards a more permissive approach. This will be of interest to those direct selling companies which have CBD products as part of their product range in overseas markets.
If you have any questions or would like to provide feedback or discuss, please get in touch with any of Addisons’ Direct Selling team.
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This document is for general information only and cannot be relied upon as legal advice.