Australia's consumer watchdog is suing the country's two biggest supermarket chains, alleging they falsely claimed to have permanently dropped the prices of hundreds of items.澳大利亚消费者监管机构正在起诉该国最大的两家连锁超市， 指控他们虚假声称已永久降低了数百种商品的价格。 The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) claims Coles and Woolworths broke consumer law by temporarily raising prices before lowering them to a value either the same as or higher than the original cost.澳大利亚竞争与消费者委员会声称，科尔斯和伍尔沃斯违反了消费者保护法，因为他们在降价之前先暂时提高了价格，降价后与原价相同，或者甚至高于原价。 Coles said it would defend itself against the allegations, while Woolworths said it would review the claims.科尔斯表示将针对这些指控进行辩护，而伍尔沃斯则表示将审查这些指控。 The grocery giants, which account for two thirds of the Australian market, have come under increasing scrutiny in the past year over alleged price gouging and anti-competitive practices.这两家超市巨头占澳大利亚市场的三分之二， 在过去一年，因被指控哄抬价格和反竞争行为而受到了越来越多的审查。 Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the alleged conduct, if proven to be true, is "completely unacceptable".澳大利亚总理安东尼·阿尔巴尼斯表示，如果指控属实，那么这种行为“完全不可接受”。 "This is not in the Australian spirit. Customers don't deserve to be treated as fools," he said at a press conference, at which he also revealed draft legislation for a previously promised "code of conduct" for supermarkets.他在新闻发布会上说：“这不符合澳大利亚的精神。顾客不应被当作傻瓜对待。” 同时他还公布了之前承诺的超市“行为准则”的立法草案。 ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said Coles and Woolworths have spent years marketing their 'Prices Dropped' and 'Down Down' promotions, which Australian shoppers now understand to represent a sustained reduction in the regular prices of products.澳大利亚竞争与消费者委员会主席吉娜·卡斯-戈特利布表示，科尔斯和伍尔沃斯多年来一直在推广他们的“降价”和“低价”促销活动， 澳大利亚购物者现在明白这些活动代表着产品常规价格的持续降低。 But in many cases "the discounts were, in fact, illusory", she added.但她补充说，在许多情况下，“这些折扣实际上是虚幻的”。 The watchdog's investigation - sparked by complaints and the ACCC's own monitoring - found Woolworths had misled customers about 266 products over 20 months, and Coles for 245 products across 15 months.由投诉和澳大利亚竞争与消费者委员会自身监管工作所触发的监管机构的调查发现，伍尔沃在20个月内对266种产品进行了误导性宣传， 而科尔斯则在15个月内对245种产品进行了误导性宣传。 The products included everything from pet food, Band-Aid plasters and mouthwash, to Australian favourites like Arnott's Tim Tam biscuits, Bega Cheese and Kellogg's cereal.这些产品包括宠物食品、创可贴、漱口水，以及澳大利亚人喜爱的阿诺特蒂姆·塔姆饼干、 贝加奶酪和家乐氏麦片等各种商品。 The ACCC estimated that the two companies "sold tens of millions" of the affected products and "derived significant revenue from those sales".澳大利亚竞争与消费者委员会估计，这两家公司“售出了数千万”件受影响的产品，并“从这些销售中获得了可观的收入”。 "Many consumers rely on discounts to help their grocery budgets stretch further, particularly during this time of cost of living pressures," Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.卡斯-戈特利布女士说：“许多消费者依赖折扣来让他们的采购预算更加宽裕， 尤其是在当前生活成本上升的压力下。” "It is critical that Australian consumers are able to rely on the accuracy of pricing and discount claims."“澳大利亚消费者能够信赖定价和折扣声明的准确性是至关重要的。” The ACCC is seeking that the Federal Court of Australia impose "significant" penalties on the two firms, and an order forcing them to increase their charitable meal delivery programs.澳大利亚竞争与消费者委员会正在请求澳大利亚联邦法院对这两家公司实施“重大”处罚， 并责令他们增加慈善送餐计划。 In a statement, Coles said the company's own costs were rising which led to an increase in product prices.科尔斯在一份声明中表示，公司自身成本上升导致了产品价格的上涨。 It had "sought to strike an appropriate balance" between managing that and "offering value to customers" by restarting promotions "as soon as possible" after new prices were set, it said.该公司表示，在重新设定价格后“尽快”重启促销活动，在管理价格和“为顾客提供价值”之间“ 寻求适当的平衡”。 The company takes consumer law "extremely seriously" and "places great emphasis on building trust with all stakeholders", it added.该公司补充说，它“极其重视”消费者法律，并“非常重视与所有利益相关者建立信任”。 Woolworths said in a statement that it would engage with the ACCC over the claims.伍尔沃斯在一份声明中表示，它将就这些指控与澳大利亚竞争与消费者委员会进行交涉。 "Our customers are telling us they want us to work even harder to deliver meaningful value to them and it's important they can trust the value they see when shopping our stores."“我们的顾客告诉我们，希望我们更加努力，为他们提供实实在在的价值，重要的是，他们在我们的商店购物时，能够相信他们所看到的价值。” Amid growing scrutiny of the supermarkets, the government commissioned a review of the country's existing Food and Grocery Code of Conduct.随着对超市的审查日益严格，政府委托对澳大利亚现行的《食品杂货行为准则》进行了审查。 The review recommended a stronger, mandatory code of conduct be introduced and policed by the ACCC, so they can protect suppliers as well as consumers.审查建议引入一个更强有力的、强制性的行为准则，并由澳大利亚竞争与消费者委员会进行监管， 以便他们既能保护供应商，也能保护消费者。 The new code will set out standards for the companies' dealings with providers, who say they are being unfairly squeezed, and introduce massive fines for breaches.新准则将为公司与供应商之间的交易制定标准，并对违规行为处以巨额罚款。供应商表示他们正在受到不公平的挤压。 素材来源：iYuba 长按上方二维码，下载英语日报APP