The ACCC has announced that it plans to revoke an RPM notification lodged by Stanley Black & Decker last October to set a minimum advertised price for Dewalt brand power tools.

The ACCC has granted interim authorisation to the Medical Technology Association of Australia to aid the supply of COVID-19 medial equipment. The authorisation allows medical technology companies to ‘work together to coordinate the supply and potential manufacture in Australia of ventilators, testing kits, personal protective equipment and other medical equipment needed to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.‘

The ACCC has granted swift interim authorisation to Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Metcash (and other grocery retailers wishing to participate) to coordinate in order to ‘ensure consumers have reliable and fair access to groceries’ during the pandemic. The authorisation does not extend to agreement on retail prices.

The ACCC has provided interim authorisation to “allow the Australian Banking Association (ABA) and banks to work together to implement a small business relief package” which would allow for “deferral of principal and interest repayments for loans to small business … impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic”

The ACCC’s ad tech and ad agency services inquiry has commenced with the ACCC releasing an issues paper and seeking submissions from interested parties. Submissions are due by 21 April 2020.

The ACCC has announced it will not appeal the Federal Court’s decision that the proposed TPG/Vodafone merger would not substantially lessen competition, explaining that it had concluded it did not have grounds to appeal.

The ACCC has announced it plans to revoke a resale price maintenance (RPM) notification lodged by Weldclass, which would have prevented retailers selling certain machines at a discount.

The ACCC has released a discussion paper focusing on agriculture machinery aftermarkets.

The ACCC is seeking views on divestments offered by Asahi in relation to its proposed acquisition of Carlton United Breweries.

The ICN merger workshop was held Thursday 27-Friday 28 February in Melbourne.

ACCC Chair, Rod Sims, spoke at the gala dinner for the event on challenges confronting competition authorities in the changing market.

The ACCC has authorised Qantas, BP Australia and independent BP petrol stations to ‘collectively participate in the BP Rewards, Qantas Frequent Flyer and Qantas Business Reward programs for five years.’

The ACCC has announced it will not oppose the proposed acquisition of Orora Fibre by Australian Paper.

The ACCC is ‘seeking feedback on any competition issues associated with an upcoming spectrum allocation which will impact rollout of 5G services across the Australian economy.’

In his annual speech to the Committee for Economic Development Australia (CEDA) speech, ACCC Chair Rod Sims set out the ACCC enforcement priorities for 2020.

The ACCC has not opposed the proposed acquisition of Lion Dairy & Drinks by China Mengniu Dairy Company.

The ACCC has announced it will “not oppose the proposed acquisition of Direct Paper by Spicers Limited, finding that alternative suppliers of commercial printing paper and direct supply arrangements between printers and paper mills will continue to provide strong competition and constrain paper prices.“

The ACCC has issued a Statement of Issues outlining preliminary concerns that Bunning's’ proposed acquisition of Adelaide Tools and Oaklands Mower Centre may lessen competition ‘in the market for tools and outdoor power equipment in Adelaide’.

The Federal Court has declared that the proposed merger between TPG and Vodafone would not substantially lessen competition.

The Government has directed the ACCC to conduct an inquiry into ‘markets for the supply of digital advertising technology services and digital advertising agency services.‘

An interim report is due by 31 December 2020 and final report due 31 August 2021. An issues paper will be published by the ACCC in March.

The Government has directed the ACCC to conduct an inquiry into markets for the supply of digital platform services. An interim report is due by 30 September 2020 and then every 6 months until a final report is provided by 31 March 2025.