WildFlowers Australia

Please see the news as printed in the Floraculture International magazine. 

If you would like to receive a complimentary copy of this magazine please contact WFA secretariat.

 "Overview

Maurice Blackburn is conducting a price-fixing class action in the Federal Court of Australia against seven major international airlines including Qantas, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, JAL and British Airways in relation to the provision of international airfreight services since 1 January 2000. The class action seeks damages and other relief on behalf of purchasers of air freight services for losses suffered as a result of the alleged cartel conduct by the airlines.

Are you a group member? 

Group members are all those persons currently resident in Australia who, during the period 1 January 2000 to 11 January 2007, paid more than AUD$20,000 for the carriage of goods to or from Australia by air. It does not matter from which airline or freight forwarder you purchased the air cargo services.

The above information is an excerpt from the brochure attached below.

This information is provided for Australian wildflower industry members by WildFlowers Australia Ltd as a notification of a matter that may be of a benefit to your business.  It is up to each business to assess the value of this information and any action they wish to take.  Please seek independent advice if needed.

If you fit the above description, you may register your interest with us. We will contact you upon receiving your completed registration of interest form. The registration of your interest with us does not obligate you to pay any legal costs." 

 "Multi-billion dollar antitrust class action lawsuits have been filed in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom alleging price-fixing of rates for airfreight shipping services by dozens of major international airlines."

"As a result of the conspiracy, air shipping charges worldwide appear to have been inflated by about 10% on average."

This is from a period from January 1, 2000 to September 11, 2006.

WFA has received communication from a company in the US who specializes in seeking out companies and businesses who may have been adversely affected by the inappropriate behavior of Airfreight companies in this case.

Todd Gasparre from Class Action Refund has indicated that the settlements have been made by the airline companies and Class Action Refund is seeking to disperse the funds.

Todd has indicated that Initially, settlements are sought to be made from a US and a European action as per the attached document.  Soon all other worldwide destinations will be included.

This means that you could be able to claim reimbursement for over charging where the cost of Airfreight was the responsibility of your business.  This could occur in the case where your business shipped on consignment or where your business owned the goods that were shipped.

In any case, please check this information for yourself and make your own decision to proceed or not to contact Class Action Refund

WFA makes this information available to members of the Australian Wildflower industry for their information and action and advises that businesses should seek independent advice. 

Please see below further information regarding the claim process;

"Please keep in mind that there are 3 pieces of information that I need which are listed below: