Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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TRADE PRACTICES AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 1998 (NO. 1) 1998 NO. 365

Statutory Rules 1998 No. 365

(Issued by authority of the Minister for Financial Services and Regulation)

Trade Practices Act 19 74

Trade Practices Amendment Regulations 1998

Paragraph 172(1)(d) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, in particular, prescribing the fees payable to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the Commission) on making a prescribed application, or giving a prescribed notice, to the Commission under the Act or the regulations.

Subsection 93(1) of the Act provides that a corporation that engages or proposes to engage in conduct as described in, amongst other provisions, subsections 47(6) and (7), and paragraphs 47(8)(c) and (9)(d) of the Act (commonly referred to as 'third line forcing') may give notice to the Commission in prescribed form setting out details of the exclusive dealing conduct.

Subregulation 28(4) of the Trade Practices Regulations (the Regulations) provides that, for the purposes of paragraph 172(1)(d) of the Act, the fees payable to the Commission, including for third line forcing notices, are set out in Schedule 1A of the Regulations unless a concessional fee is payable in respect of the matter. Subregulations 28(5) and (6) prescribe the circumstances in which a concessional fee, as set out in Schedule 1B of the Regulations, is payable.

Item 9 of Schedule 1A of the Regulations provides for a $1,000 fee for a third line forcing notice and item 6 of Schedule 1B provides for the concessional fee of $200 for a third line forcing notice.

The amending regulations reduce the fee payable by an individual or a proprietary company for a third line forcing notice to $100.

Amending regulation 4 amends the citation of the Regulations to be the Trade Practices Regulations 1974 in line with the introduction of new citations for statutory rules.

Amending regulation 5 adds the definition of 'proprietary company' to subregulation 2(1) of the Regulations.

Amending regulation 6 amends subregulation 25(5) of the Regulations in recognition that an individual or a proprietary company need not have access to a concessional fee for a third line forcing notice - the new fee of $100 being less than the third line forcing notice concessional fee of $200.

Amending regulations 7 and 8 substitute and insert additional items in Schedules 1A and 1B of the Regulations to provide for a new flat fee of $100 payable by an individual or a proprietary company for a third line forcing notice whilst preserving the existing $1,000 fee and $200 concessional fee payable by other persons.

The amending regulations commenced upon gazettal.