Competition law update to drive growth

The Commerce (Promoting Competition and Other Matters) Amendment Bill is expected to pass by mid-2026, with the changes all in force by the end of 2026.

This is the first major update of competition rules in nearly 20 years. The reforms will modernise competition settings and ensure businesses have a clearer understanding of conduct that restricts competition and falls foul of the law.

The market landscape has changed significantly since the last review. Some sectors have become highly concentrated, making it difficult for competing businesses to enter or expand.

The Bill aims to promote fair and effective competition. Competition is a key driver of growth and productivity with knock-on benefits for consumers like lower prices, better quality and a wider range of products.

These reforms update New Zealand’s settings across all economic sectors, meaning less need for future targeted, sector-specific regulation.

Key changes:

• A faster, more transparent merger review process so businesses benefit from quicker, clearer decisions within set timeframes.
• More effective rules to prevent anti-competitive tactics such as creeping acquisitions and predatory pricing.
• Streamlined approval for collaborations that benefit the public like joint efforts to tackle scams.
• New powers for the Commerce Commission, the competition regulator, to accept behavioural undertakings in merger applications and temporarily suspend risky mergers for review.
• Certainty that confidential information provided to the Commission will not be released unless certain limited grounds for disclosure apply.

The Bill has been referred to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee. The New Zealand Parliament website will be updated when the Bill opens for public submissions.

Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee(external link) — New Zealand Parliament

Read the Bill at the New Zealand Legislation website.

Commerce (Promoting Competition and Other Matters) Amendment Bill(external link) — New Zealand Legislation

More information on the update to competition settings.

Refreshing competition settings