Goods (Trade Descriptions) Act 1971
An Act to prohibit the application to goods of false trade descriptions, to require and regulate the application of trade descriptions to certain classes of goods, to make provision with respect to incidental matters, and to repeal certain enactments
[Royal Assent 29 April 1971]
Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:
PART I - Preliminary
This Act may be cited as the Goods (Trade Descriptions) Act 1971 .
[Section 2 Amended by No. 45 of 1972, s. 2 ][Section 2 Amended by No. 70 of 1987, s. 3 ][Section 2 Amended by No. 53 of 1988, s. 27 and Sched. 4 ]In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears –alter includes cause to be altered;apply includes cause to be applied;authorized officer means a person who is prescribed to be an authorized officer under section 5 (1) ;Commonwealth Act means the Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905 of the Commonwealth, and includes that Act as amended from time to time, and any Commonwealth Act passed in substitution for that Act;covering includes stopper, glass, cask, bottle, vessel, box, cover, container, carton, capsule, case, frame, and wrapper;Director means the Director of Consumer Affairs appointed under the Consumer Affairs Act 1988 ;false trade description means a trade description that, by reason of anything contained therein or omitted therefrom, is false or likely to mislead in a material respect as regards the goods to which it is applied or in connection with which it is used, and includes an alteration of a trade description, whether by way of addition, effacement, or otherwise, that makes the description false or likely to mislead in a material respect;fibre means wool, hair, silk, cotton, linen, cashmere, and mohair, and the hair of the alpaca, the camel, the llama, or the vicuna, and includes any other fibrous material, whether natural or artificial;goods means anything that is the subject of trade, manufacture, or merchandise;label includes band and ticket;name includes an abbreviation of a name;sell includes –(a) cause to be sold; and(b) expose, offer, or exhibit for sale, or have in possession for sale or for any purpose of trade, manufacture, or advertisement;shoes includes slippers and sandals;sole means all that part of a boot or shoe that in use is under the foot of the wearer and includes the heel, but does not include –(a) the insole;(b) the thin strip of leather, paper, or other like material that is affixed to the surface of the insole; or(c) thread, wax, rivets, pegs, nails, toe-plates, heel-plates, heel-tips, or heel-caps;specialty fibre means cashmere, mohair, and the hair of the alpaca, the camel, the llama, or the vicuna;Territory means a Territory of the Commonwealth;textile products means –but does not include linings, interlinings, or trimmings forming part of articles of wearing apparel or any goods that are declared by the regulations not to be textile products for the purposes of this Act;(a) woven, knitted, or felted materials that have been manufactured from fibre;(b) tops, yarn, threads, and lace;(c) carpets; and(d) articles that have been manufactured, by whatever process, from fibre –trade description means any description, statement, indication, or suggestion, whether direct or indirect, as to –and includes an advertisement published in a newspaper or other public print circulating in the State in relation to any goods and the use of any figure, word, initials, or mark that, according to the custom of the trade or common repute, is commonly taken to be an indication of any of the foregoing matters;(a) the quality, purity, characteristics, class, grade, or gauge of any goods;(b) the suitability for their purpose, or the strength, performance, behaviour, or accuracy, of any goods;(c) the mode of manufacturing, producing, selecting, packing, or otherwise preparing any goods; or(d) the materials or ingredients of which any goods are composed or from which they are derived –upper means the outer covering of the part of a boot or shoe that is above the sole, but does not include any thread, lace, eyelet, buckle, button, or other adornment;wool means the natural fibre from the fleece of any variety of the domestic sheep (ovis aries).
[Section 4 Repealed by No. 70 of 1987, s. 4 ]. . . . . . . .(1) The Footwear Act 1918 is repealed.(2) The Textile Products (Description) Act 1953 and the Textile Products (Description) Act 1968 are repealed.
PART II - Administration
[Section 5 Substituted by No. 70 of 1987, s. 5 ](1) [Section 5 Subsection (1) amended by No. 53 of 1988, s. 27 and Sched. 4 ]The following persons are prescribed as authorized officers for the purposes of this Act:(a) the Director; and(b) any person declared to be or appointed as an authorized officer under Part III of the Consumer Affairs Act 1988 .(2) [Section 5 Subsection (2) amended by No. 53 of 1988, s. 27 and Sched. 4 ]The Director shall issue to an authorized officer a certificate certifying the authority of such an officer to act as an authorized officer for the purposes of this Act.
6. Powers and duties of inspectors
(1) [Section 6 Subsection (1) amended by No. 70 of 1987, s. 6 ]An authorized officer may –(a) at any reasonable time enter a place where he has reasonable grounds for suspecting that there are goods intended for sale, and inspect any goods that he finds therein;(b) require the occupier of the place or any other person whom he finds therein to answer such questions, or to supply such information, as may reasonably be required by the authorized officer for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of this Act have or have not been complied with, or are or are not being complied with, in respect of any goods that he finds therein; and(c) on payment or tender to a person who is engaged in the business of selling goods, manufacturing goods for sale, or preparing goods for sale, or to his agent or servant, or to a person in charge of goods intended for sale (whether in transit or otherwise) of the current market value thereof or at the prescribed rate of payment, demand, select, and take or obtain samples of those goods or of any materials used in the manufacture or preparation thereof.(2) [Section 6 Subsection (2) amended by No. 70 of 1987, s. 6 ][Section 6 Subsection (2) amended by No. 67 of 1994, s. 3 and Sched. 1 ]No person shall –(a) fail to answer a question that is lawfully put to him, or fail to supply any information that is lawfully required, by an authorized officer pursuant to this section; or(b) in answer to a question put to him pursuant to this section, make a statement or supply information that that person knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, to be false or misleading in a material particular.(3) [Section 6 Subsection (3) substituted by No. 70 of 1987, s. 6 ][Section 6 Subsection (3) amended by No. 53 of 1988, s. 27 and Sched. 4 ]An authorized officer who seeks to enter a place pursuant to this section shall, if requested by the person apparently in charge of the place, produce to that person the certificate issued by the Director under section 5 .
PART III - Trade Descriptions
Division 1 - Special provisions relating to footwear
7. Trade description to be applied to boots and shoes
(1) [Section 7 Subsection (1) amended by No. 45 of 1972, s. 3 ]No person shall manufacture boots or shoes for sale unless there is conspicuously and legibly stamped on or impressed into the sole of each boot or shoe, or such other part of each boot or shoe as may be prescribed, a trade description comprising a statement in the English language –(a) specifying the materials of which the sole, upper, and quarter lining of each boot or shoe is composed; and(b) containing the name of the manufacturer.(2) [Section 7 Subsection (2) substituted by No. 45 of 1972, s. 3 ]The trade description referred to in subsection (1) shall consist of –(a) the words "made by" or "manufactured by" immediately followed by the name of the manufacturer or by a business name registered under the Business Names Act 1962 or under a corresponding Act of any other State or Territory of the Commonwealth if that business name is the sole property of the manufacturer and the manufacturer has not granted to any other person the right to use that name;(b) in the case of a boot or shoe –(i) the sole of which consists entirely of leather, the words "all leather sole";(ii) the upper of which consists entirely of leather, the words "all leather upper"; or(iii) the quarter lining of which consists entirely of leather, the words "all leather quarter lining";(c) in the case of a boot or shoe the sole of which is not composed entirely of leather –(i) a true statement of the material or of the several materials of which the sole is composed;(ii) the words "synthetic sole", if the sole is composed entirely of synthetic material; or(iii) the words "non-leather sole";(d) in the case of a boot or shoe the upper of which is not composed entirely of leather but is composed entirely or partly of a material resembling leather –(i) a true statement of the material or of the several materials of which the upper is composed;(ii) in the case of an upper that is composed entirely of synthetic material the words "synthetic upper"; or(iii) the words "non-leather upper"; or(e) in the case of a boot or shoe the quarter lining of which is not composed entirely of leather but is composed entirely or partly of a material resembling leather –(i) a true statement of the material or of the several materials of which the quarter lining is composed;(ii) the words "synthetic quarter lining", if the quarter lining is composed entirely of synthetic material; or(iii) the words "non-leather quarter lining".(3) No person shall sell boots or shoes that have been manufactured within the Commonwealth unless the statement referred to in subsection (1) is stamped on or impressed into the sole of each boot or shoe or such other part of each boot or shoe as may be prescribed.(4) No person shall sell boots or shoes that have been manufactured elsewhere than within the Commonwealth unless there is conspicuously and legibly stamped on or impressed into the sole of each boot or shoe, or there is attached to each boot or shoe a label containing a trade description comprising, a statement in the English language specifying –(a) the name of the country in which the boots or shoes were manufactured; and(b) the materials of which the sole of each boot or shoe is composed.(5) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (4) , the statement of the materials of which a boot or shoe is composed shall consist of –(a) in the case of a boot or shoe the sole of which is composed entirely of leather, the words "all leather sole"; or(b) in the case of a boot or shoe the sole of which is not composed entirely of leather –(i) a statement of the several materials of which the sole is composed;(ii) the words "synthetic sole", if the sole is composed entirely of a synthetic material; or(iii) the words "non-leather sole".(6) [Section 7 Subsection (6) amended by No. 45 of 1972, s. 3 ]For the purposes of subsection (5) , the statement referred to therein shall be set forth in prominent and legible characters of such size as may be prescribed conspicuously placed so as to be clearly visible.(7) For the purposes of the foregoing provisions of this section, the soles of boots or shoes shall be regarded as consisting entirely of leather if the only material other than leather that is contained therein consists of one or more of the following, namely:(a) ordinary fillers of cork or waterproof felt;(b) canvas used to reinforce the insole;(c) wood, metal, or plastic used in the heels of boots or shoes designed for wear by women;(d) a prescribed material used as prescribed in the manufacture of shanks;(e) stiffening of prescribed materials made as prescribed.(8) This section does not apply to or in relation to boots or shoes that are proved to the satisfaction of an inspector to be boots or shoes intended for export from Australia.(9) [Section 7 Subsection (9) amended by No. 67 of 1994, s. 3 and Sched. 1 ]A person who contravenes any of the provisions of this section is guilty of an offence against this Act.
Division 2 - Special provisions relating to textile products
8. Prohibition of sale of textile products to which the prescribed trade description is not affixed
(1) No person shall sell textile products unless there is applied thereto, or, if the regulations so require, to the several appropriate portions thereof, a trade description that –(a) is in the English language;(b) is printed or stamped on, woven into, or securely attached to, those textile products or portions thereof in prominent and legible characters conspicuously placed so as to be clearly visible; and(c) contains the particulars prescribed by or under this Act.(2) [Section 8 Subsection (2) amended by No. 75 of 1973, s. 2 and Sched. 1 ]The trade description applied to textile products that contain 95 per cent or more by mass of wool shall include the words "pure wool" or the words "all wool".(3) [Section 8 Subsection (3) amended by No. 75 of 1973, s. 2 and Sched. 1 ]Except as provided in subsection ( 4 ), the trade description applied to textile products that contain less than 95 per cent by mass of wool shall not include the words "pure wool" or the words "all wool".(4) [Section 8 Subsection (4) amended by No. 75 of 1973, s. 2 and Sched. 1 ]Where any textile products –the trade description applied to those textile products may include the words "pure wool" or the words "all wool", and if the words "pure wool" or the words "all wool" are so included subsection (5) does not apply to or in relation to that trade description.(a) contain not less than 80 per cent by mass of wool; and(b) do not contain more than 5 per cent by mass of any other fibre or fibres (not being a specialty fibre or specialty fibres) –(5) The trade description applied to textile products that contain less than 95 per cent, but not less than 5 per cent, by weight of wool shall include a statement specifying –(a) the percentage by weight of wool that is contained in those textile products; and(b) the several fibres contained in those textile products, in order of dominance by weight.(6) [Section 8 Subsection (6) amended by No. 75 of 1973, s. 2 and Sched. 1 ]The trade description applied to textile products that contain less than 5 per cent by mass of wool shall state the fibres other than wool contained therein, in order of dominance by mass, followed by the words "less than 5 per cent wool".(7) [Section 8 Subsection (7) amended by No. 75 of 1973, s. 2 and Sched. 1 ]The trade description applied to textile products that contain no wool shall include a statement specifying the fibre contained in the products, or, if the products contain more than one fibre, specifying those fibres in order of dominance by mass.(8) [Section 8 Subsection (8) amended by No. 58 of 1994, s. 4 ]Subject to subsection (9) , a statement specifying for the purposes of this section the fibres contained in any textile products shall, if any of those fibres are artificial fibres, describe them as being fibres of such one or more of the following classes or types as may be appropriate, namely:or, if none of those classes or types of fibres is appropriate to describe the composition of such a fibre, the statement shall describe it as "artificial fibre" or "man-made fibre".(a) acetate;(b) acrylic;(c) chlorofibre;(d) elastomeric;(e) glass;(ea) lyocell;(f) metallic yarn;(g) paper yarn;(h) polyamide or nylon;(i) polyester;(j) polyolefin;(k) polyvinyl alcohol;(l) rayon –(9) The regulations may provide that in the case of an artificial fibre of any class specified in the regulations (not being a class of fibre to which paragraphs (a) to (l) of subsection (8) relate) the trade description shall describe the class of that fibre in such manner as is prescribed or as "artificial fibre" or as "man-made fibre".
Division 3 - General provisions relating to trade descriptions
[Section 9 Amended by No. 67 of 1994, s. 3 and Sched. 1 ]No person shall –(a) apply a false trade description to any goods for sale; or(b) sell any goods to which a false trade description is applied.
10. Application of trade description
For the purposes of this Act –(a) a false trade description shall be deemed to be applied to goods if –(i) it is applied to, woven into, or impressed on, or otherwise worked into or annexed or affixed to, the goods themselves or to any covering, document, card, label, reel, or thing used in connection with the goods;(ii) it is used in any manner that is likely to lead to the belief that it describes or designates the goods; or(iii) it is used, whether in an advertisement or a catalogue or otherwise, in any manner in connection with, or for the purposes of, the sale of the goods; and(b) a trade description that is required by Division 1 or Division 2 of this Part to be applied to any goods shall be deemed to be applied to the goods if –(i) it is applied to the goods themselves; or(ii) it is used in relation to the goods in a prescribed manner.
11. Application of certain provisions
[Section 11 Substituted by No. 70 of 1987, s. 7 ] Sections 9 and 10 (a) apply in relation to –(a) trade descriptions to goods to which this Part relates; and(b) trade descriptions to such other goods as may be prescribed by regulations made under this Act.
PART IV - Miscellaneous
12. Soles not to contain weighting substance
[Section 12 Amended by No. 67 of 1994, s. 3 and Sched. 1 ]No person shall sell boots or shoes the soles of which consist of leather having an admixture or any weighting substance that is specified in the regulations.Penalty: Fine not exceeding 2 penalty units.
13. Proof of manufacture or possession of boots or shoes for sale
In proceedings in respect of an offence under Division 1 of Part III , unless the contrary is proved –(a) a person who manufactures boots or shoes shall be deemed to manufacture them for sale; and(b) a person who carries on business in a place where boots or shoes are kept in stock shall be deemed to have them in his possession for resale.
(1) In proceedings in respect of an offence against this Act it is a defence for the person charged to prove –(a) that he took all reasonable precautions to prevent the commission of the offence and that the offence was committed without his knowledge or in contravention of his orders;(b) in the case of proceedings in respect of the application to goods of a false trade description or the sale of goods to which a false trade description is applied, that at the time of the commission of the offence he had no reason to suspect that the trade description was false;(c) that the goods to which the proceedings relate were manufactured in or imported into the State before the commencement of this Act; or(d) that the goods to which the proceedings relate were manufactured elsewhere than in Australia and that there was applied thereto a trade description that complied in all respects with the requirements prescribed by or under the Commonwealth Act.(2) Where the person charged with an offence against this Act pleads the defence mentioned in subsection (1) (c) , he is liable for the costs of the proceedings unless he gives to the complainant not less than 3 clear days' notice of his intention to rely on that defence.
(1) [Section 15 Subsection (1) amended by No. 70 of 1987, s. 10 ]Nothing in this Act –(a) exempts a person from any civil proceedings that, but for the provisions of this Act, might be brought against him;(b) entitles a person to refuse to make discovery or answer any question or interrogatory in an action; or(c) renders liable to prosecution or punishment an employee of a person resident in the State, being an employee who, in good faith, acts in obedience to the instructions of that person and, on the demand of an authorized officer, gives to that authorized officer full information as to the person by whom the employee is employed.(2) Where a person makes such a discovery or answer as is mentioned in subsection (1) (b) that discovery or answer is not admissible in evidence against that person in any proceedings against that person in respect of an offence against this Act.
[Section 16 Subsection (2) amended by No. 67 of 1994, s. 3 and Sched. 1 ](1) The Governor may make regulations for the purposes of this Act.(2) [Section 16 Subsection (2) amended by No. 70 of 1987, s. 8 ]Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of this section, the regulations –(a) may, in relation to boots and shoes –(i) prescribe the materials of which, and the manner in which, shanks and stiffening (not consisting of solid leather) used in the soles of boots and shoes may be manufactured and used;(ii) require and regulate the marking, in such manner and position as may be prescribed, of boots and shoes with particulars relating to the quality, purity, characteristics, class, grade, size, and gauge thereof or of any part thereof; and(iii) prohibit the admixture, in the material forming the soles of boots or shoes, of specified weighting substances;(b) may, in relation to textile products –(i) prescribe and regulate the form of the trade description to be applied thereto and the manner in which it shall be applied thereto or, where prescribed, to any covering, document, card, label, reel, or thing used in connection therewith, and in the case of textile products manufactured elsewhere than within the Commonwealth, the form of, and manner in which, the name of the country in which they were manufactured is to be set forth in such a trade description; and(ii) require that a trade description required by this Act to be applied to textile products shall contain such particulars as may be prescribed relating to the quality, purity, characteristics, class, grade, or size of the textile products or of the materials of which the textile products are composed;(ba) may, in relation to other goods, prescribe and regulate the form of the trade description to be applied to the goods and the manner in which it shall be applied to the goods, including any covering, document, card, label, reel, or thing used in connection with the goods;(c) may exempt boots, shoes, or textile products of any particular kind from all or any of the provisions of this Act, either wholly or to such extent as is specified in the regulations and either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as may be prescribed;(d) may be made so as to apply to boots and shoes generally, or to textile products generally, or to specified kinds of boots, shoes, or textile products, or to all kinds of boots, shoes, or textile products other than those specified in the regulations and so as to discriminate between boots, shoes, and textile products manufactured within the Commonwealth and boots, shoes, and textile products manufactured elsewhere than within the Commonwealth; and(e) may impose fines not exceeding 2 penalty units for offences against the regulations.
17. Adoption of standards by reference
[Section 17 Inserted by No. 70 of 1987, s. 9 ](1) The regulations may adopt, either wholly or in part, and either specifically or by reference and with or without modification, a standard or specification of a prescribed authority, being a standard or specification specified in the regulations and dealing with a matter to which the regulations relate, whether the standard or specification is published or issued before or after the commencement of section 9 of the Goods (Trade Descriptions) Amendment Act 1987 .(2) In subsection (1) , prescribed authority means –(a) the Standards Association of Australia;(b) the British Standards Institution; and(c) such other body as may be specified in the regulations for the purposes of this section.(3) A reference in subsection (1) to a standard or specification includes a reference to an amendment of that standard or specification, whether the amendment is published or issued before or after the commencement of section 9 of the Goods (Trade Descriptions) Amendment Act 1987 .(4) In subsection (3) , amendment means –(a) the omission of matter;(b) the insertion of additional matter; and(c) the omission of matter and the substitution of other matter.