The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was contacted by over 250 agricultural traders with reports and inquiries between July and December 2017, an increase of 25 per cent compared to the previous six months.

The most prominent categories for concerns were misleading conduct, false representations, consumer guarantees and wrongly accepting payment. During this period, the ACCC also issued 15 compliance check notices to horticulture traders across the wholesale central markets, and launched an online tool for the agriculture sector to anonymously report trading or competition concerns.

For more information, read the latest edition of the ACCC’s Small Business in Focus report. Any industry member looking to contact the ACCC with queries or concerns can use its small business hotline on 1300 302 021, its regular online form for small business issues, or its online tool for anonymous reporting in the agriculture industry.