ACCC flags greenwashing and scams as areas of concern in 2021 annual report review

On Tuesday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) attended the standing committee for economics for a review of the commission’s 2021 annual report.

Here are four key takeaways from the two-and-a-half-hour-long session.

Greenwashing

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb was among the ACCC officials who expressed concern about corporate claims on sustainability.

The practice, also called “greenwashing”, refers to misleading environmental claims made by businesses in order to appear more sustainable.

The ACCC said it was a priority for the commission to monitor such claims this year and would continue to be, with the ACCC stating the practice leads to an undermining of consumer trust.

Cass-Gottlieb pointed to The Netherlands as a jurisdiction doing significant work in this space.

In relation to “junk” carbon credits, the commission said it was working with the Clean Energy Regulator and ASIC to assess the validity of net zero claims.

Scams and data

Following questions about the Optus breach, the ACCC said there had been a material increase in the number of scam reports it receives.

The ACCC added it would be monitoring the compliance of financial institutions on the protection of consumer data.

With $2 billion worth of losses, the ACCC advocated for a “one-stop scam centre” to make Australia the hardest target for scammers.

On data collection and privacy, the ACCC said it was closely monitoring how digital platforms use consumer data, including being involved at the moment in a couple of court cases about corporate use of location data.

Mergers and acquisitions

Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC was “very concerned” about markets being both effective and competitive, with the commission keeping a close eye on potential mergers and acquisitions in the mining industry.

One acquisition the ACCC was reviewing was the proposed Qantas airlines merger. Its preliminary view was the merger would lead to a “susbtantial” reduction in competition.

The ACCC added it was also concerned about the levels of concentration within the Australian economy, following reports from Treasury.

Industries to watch

The ACCC was quizzed a few times by a couple of ministers on the state of the airline industry more generally in light of COVID-19 recovery and continuing problems with understaffing.

ACCC said its priority in this area was educating consumers about knowing the distinction between when cancellations were within airlines’ control and when they were not.

In terms of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) products, the ACCC said its main concern was how consumers were being told fees would apply when payments were missed.

This article was first published by The Mandarin.