Paint Company Pleads Guilty to Charges of Shortchanging Consumers

OTTAWA, December 5, 2001 — The Competition Bureau announced today that Laurentide Chemicals, Atlantic Ltd., a chemical company based in Richibucto, New Brunswick, pleaded guilty to four counts of false or misleading representation on the quantity of their products. The Court of New Brunswick imposed a $1,500 fine for each charge, totalling $6,000, under the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act.

"Consumers rely on accurate labelling to make informed choices," said Raymond Pierce, Deputy Commissioner of the Fair Business Practices Branch. "When such labelling is incorrect, consumers lose."

In July of 2000, the Bureau began a detailed inspection of five lines of paint products produced by Laurentide Chemicals to verify net quantity. The inspection revealed that certain lots of paint, marketed under the National Select, National Titanium and Co-op brands, failed to meet the same amount of net quantity that had been labelled on the pa ckage. The quantity was, in fact lower than what was indicated on the label. As a result, the Bureau alleged that Laurentide Chemicals gave misleading information to consumers, who ended up paying more for less.

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that promotes and maintains fair competition so that all Canadians can benefit from competitive prices, product choice and quality service. It oversees the application of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Textile Labelling Act and the Precious Metals Marking Act.

For general public enquiries, please contact:
Competition Bureau's Information Center
1-800-348-5358

For media enquiries, please contact:
Maureen McGrath
Senior Communications Advisor
Communications Branch
819-953-8982 or 613-296-2187 (cell.)