KEY POINTS:
Schools have been warned that if they make exclusive deals for the supply of uniforms, they must be open about any financial benefits they may receive from the supplier.
The warning comes as part of guidelines the Commerce Commission has
issued to provide information and guidance to schools when they enter
into arrangements for the supply of uniforms.
The commission said the Commerce Act banned conduct that restricted
competition.
Last month, the commission's spokeswoman, Allanah Kalafatelis, said many
complaints had been made to it about the supply of school uniforms.
"The commission decided to investigate the issue across the industry
because there have been widespread issues."
Commission director of competition Deborah Battell said: "While
exclusive arrangements can provide benefits for schools, such as rebates or gifts to support school activities, they also reduce parental choice and can result in increased prices."
But she said exclusive arrangements could also achieve consistent quality and design and production efficiency and lower prices.
The guidelines suggest schools consider calling tenders regularly if an exclusive arrangement was preferred, appointing multiple suppliers if
demand was sufficient and being objective about supplier choice.
Ms Battell said schools should fully inform parents of the reasons for any exclusive arrangement, their process for choosing the supplier, and be open about any financial benefit the school received from the
supplier.
They should also advise parents of the steps taken to ensure that uniform prices were not unreasonable.
Last month, retailer The Uniform Shoppe said it would ignore what it called threats from Rosehill College in Papakura to seek a legal injunction to stop it from selling the college's uniforms.
Uniform Shoppe managing director Janet Igrisan said the college was
in breach of the Commerce Act.
- NZPA
