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3. Objectives of the Legislation

Clause 9 of the Competition Principles Agreement states that reviews should clarify the objectives of the legislation. The objectives of the trade measurement legislation are not stated explicitly in the legislation. In such circumstances, secondary material, such as the second reading speech, are reviewed to gain an insight into the objectives of the legislation. The consultant carried out a review of secondary material and annex B of the scoping study provides details of the material reviewed.

One key document reviewed was the agreement entered into between the Commonwealth and all States and Territories, except Western Australia, in relation to the adoption of Uniform Trade Measurement Legislation and Administration⁴. The preamble to the agreement states that:

"(A) it is generally acknowledged [to be] in the interests of the public and of persons and authorities concerned with the administration of the laws relating to trade measurement that there should be uniformity both in those laws and in their administration in the States and the Territories of Australia in order to promote commercial certainty and bring about a reduction in business costs and greater efficiency in the trade measurement industry that services the marketplace and that the confidence of consumers in the market should be maintained through suitable protection provisions."

A summary of the key themes from other secondary material reviewed are: the need to establish a uniform and accurate system of trade measurement across Australia due to the increasing amount of interstate trade; to minimise transaction costs incurred by businesses and consumers so as to facilitate market transactions; to promote business and consumer confidence and to provide protection to consumers.

After review of the secondary material, the Review Committee agreed that for the purposes of the NCP review the objectives of the legislation are the:

• promotion of commercial certainty;
• reduction of business costs;
• improvement in the efficiency of the trade measurement industry; and
• the maintenance of consumer confidence through suitable protection provisions.

Section 4.3 of the report discusses these objectives in relation to the restriction on the sale of non-prepacked meat.

4 1 January 1990

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