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<pre>VIVA OLIVES FINED FOR MISLEADING AND DECEPTIVE CLAIMS!

Federal Court Declares Claims about Viva Extra Virgin Olive Oils to
be Misleading, Deceptive


The Federal Court, Adelaide has found that The South Australian Olive
Corporation Pty Ltd and Inglewood Olive Processors Limited engaged in
misleading and deceptive conduct about representations made about
Viva Extra Virgin Olive Oils in television and magazine advertising
and on product labels.

The advertisements and product labelling contained claims that Viva
Extra Virgin Olive Oils were:

- products of Australia;

- made in Australia; and

- comprised entirely of olive oil from Australia

when in fact the oils were a blend that included up to 50 per cent
imported oil.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged that these
representations either stated and/or implied that Viva Extra Virgin
Olive Oils were a product of Australia when they were not. To meet
the `Product of a country' test prescribed by the Trade Practices Act
1974, each significant ingredient of the product must be sourced from
the country represented to be the country of origin, and all, or
virtually all, processes involved in the production or manufacture of
the product must occur in that country. As Viva Extra Virgin Olive
Oils contained up to 50 per cent imported olive oil they did not meet
the test prescribed by the Act and could not be called or implied to
be a `Product of Australia'.

"Consumers will often make a purchase decision based on the country
of origin of a product, especially Australian-made products", ACCC
Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today. "They may even be prepared to
pay a premium for Australian products and have the right to be
confident that claims made on food and beverage labels are accurate".

As a result of the proceedings, the court:

- declared that The South Australian Olive Corporation and Inglewood
Olive Processors had:

- - engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in contravention of
section 52 of the Act;

- - made false representations about the olive oil in contravention
of sections 53(a) and 53(eb) of the Act;

- - engaged in conduct that was liable to mislead its customers or
its potential customers as to the nature, manufacturing process or
the characteristics of the olive oil in contravention of section 55
of the Act;

- granted an injunction restraining the companies from making the
same or similar representations about olive oil for a period of three
years where any of the olive oil is imported; and

- ordered that the companies place corrective advertisements in
Australian Gourmet Traveller, Better Homes and Gardens, Delicious and
Vogue Entertaining and nine daily newspapers.

The court also found that Mr Mark Troy, a director of The South
Australian Olive Corporation, aided and abetted and was knowingly
concerned in the conduct. The Court noted that Mr Troy has undertaken
to attend a Trade Practices Compliance Training Program approved by
the Australian Compliance Institute.

The court orders were made with the consent of the parties.

In August 2002 the Viva brand was sold to Origin Olives Australasia
Limited. Origin Olives was not a party to the contraventions.

Further information about the Trade Practices Act 1974 as it relates
to country of origin claims is contained in the ACCC guidelines
Country of origin claims and the Trade Practices Act, Food and
beverage industry Country of origin guidelines to the Trade Practices
Act, Textiles, clothing and footwear industries Country of origin
guidelines to the Trade Practices Act, and Complementary health care
industry Country of origin guidelines to the Trade Practices Act,
available on the ACCC website and from all ACCC offices.

Further information

Ms Jennifer McNeill, Commissioner responsible for consumer
protection, (02) 6243 1115

Ms Lin Enright, Director, Public Relations (02) 6243 1108 or 0414 613
520

MR 154/03

16 July 2003
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