This page describes the consumer and commercial regulatory system, its objectives and our qualitative assessment of it. It also lists the main statutes and changes to regulation either planned or in progress.
The Consumer and Commercial Regulatory System is based on a set of legislation focused on 4 core areas:
The Fair Trading Act and the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act are enforced by the Commerce Commission, an independent Crown entity monitored by MBIE. Other legislation is enforced by MBIE (eg the Weights and Measures Act) or must be self-enforced by the complainant (eg the Consumer Guarantees Act).
Because of the huge variation in goods and services transacted across the economy, the universal provisions of the consumer and commercial regulatory system are supported or supplemented by a wide range of sector or issue-specific regulatory systems, for example:
The Consumer and Commercial Regulatory System is a broad system focused on enabling consumers and businesses to transact with confidence. The system helps consumers to:
Promotes active management of the consumer and commercial system by reinforcing shared ownership, assisting core government agencies with policy and regulatory functions and assisting them to identify…
PDF, 1.2MB, 32 pages
| Portfolios | Key statutes |
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A number of different teams at MBIE are directly involved in the consumer and commercial system. Their different roles are set out in the following table.
| Agency or team | Role |
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Competition and Consumer Policy (MBIE) |
Leads the consumer and commercial regulatory system. Responsible for advising the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs on consumer policy issues and for administering consumer and commercial legislation. |
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Corporate Governance and Intellectual Property Policy (MBIE) |
Responsible for advising the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs on commercial law and has shared responsibility with the Competition and Consumer Policy team for administering commercial legislation. |
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Provides tools and advice to businesses from across government, including advice on compliance with consumer and commercial regulation. |
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Develops and delivers targeted information and programmes aimed at increasing the ability of consumers to transact with confidence. Together with Competition and Consumer Policy, the Consumer Protection team shares joint oversight of the overall development, implementation and review of system strategy and policy. |
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Service Design Policy (MBIE) |
Plays a role in supporting the Market Services Group and its regulatory systems by providing leadership and coordination of projects, and providing advice on operational policy and service design. |
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Government Centre for Dispute Resolution (GCDR) (MBIE) |
GCDR is the steward of dispute resolution across government. It develops best practice guidance, tools and other resources, assists agencies to review and design dispute resolution schemes, and suggests improvements to dispute resolution across government. Dispute resolution is a cross-cutting issue across a number of regulatory systems with consumer and commercial elements. |
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Develops New Zealand standards for products, processes, services and performance across a range of goods and services that consumers purchase, including building and construction, electrical and gas safety, and consumer product safety. It is a member of the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission and uses consensus-based, transparent processes consistent with international practice, and provides access to these standards to the public. |
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Undertakes monitoring, compliance and enforcement of measurement and product safety settings. It is responsible for regulating a range of consumer products, the national measurement system used for trade, fuel quality monitoring, and the registration of auctioneers and motor vehicle traders. |
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An independent Crown entity responsible for enforcing consumer and commercial regulation (under both the consumer and commercial system and the competition system) and provides information and guidance to businesses and consumers about the law. |
| Agency | Role |
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Enforces compliance at the border with a range of import prohibitions and restrictions. This protects the community, environment and economy of New Zealand, and enables New Zealand to comply with international agreements and obligations. |
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An independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to getting New Zealanders a fairer deal. Its work involves testing and making recommendations on products and services, investigating consumer issues, mystery shopping, providing advice to consumers about their rights, and campaigning to improve consumer protection. |
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Provides a free and independent volunteer-based service to help people know and understand their rights and obligations, and how to use this information to get the best outcomes. It provides people with the confidence and support they need to take action, and work for positive social change within communities and wider society. |
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An autonomous Crown entity that provides information, education and advice on financial capability to New Zealand consumers. Financial capability is an important element in helping consumers to transact with confidence. |
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Provide free one-on-one legal advice, including on consumer rights and commercial obligations, to people with limited finances. There are 24 community law centres throughout the country. Legal information and other resources are provided on the Community Law Centres o Aotearoa website. |
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Dispute resolution services |
These services may be required by legislation for particular industries, or may be set up voluntarily as industry-led initiatives. Dispute resolution services include:
The courts, Disputes Tribunal and Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal also provide dispute resolution functions. While they may make determinations on aspects of consumer and commercial law, their jurisdiction is broader than the consumer and commercial system. |
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An independent Crown entity that promotes and facilitates the development of fair, efficient and transparent financial markets in New Zealand. The Financial Markets Authority plays a secondary role in the consumer and commercial system by supervising the conduct of financial service providers, promoting the confident and informed participation of consumers in financial markets, and working with the Commerce Commission to enforce lender compliance. |
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A non-government organisation focused on offering support to the building financial capability sector in New Zealand. It supports the sector through the development of professional standards, advocacy for building financial capability sector interests and communicating advice to government and other key stakeholders, such as creditors. |
The Commerce Commission has memoranda of understanding with regulators in other systems, such as energy markets and financial markets, which allow it to share information and work collaboratively with these agencies. These include the Financial Markets Authority, Gas Industry Company Limited, Electricity Authority and Department of Internal Affairs.
MBIE’s Consumer Protection team shares information and collaborates with regulators such as the Commerce Commission through a number of forums and working groups. These include the Consumer Protection Partnership Forum, Consumer Market Intelligence Group and the Motor Vehicle Issues Group.
MBIE’s Trading Standards team collaborates with other groups and agencies where required to shape and deliver its functions. When developing legislative interventions with enforceable provisions for product safety, Trading Standards collaborates with the Commerce Commission (regarding products in-market) and Customs (for products at the border). Trading Standards also has memoranda of understanding and strong working relationships with other agencies working in the product safety area, such as WorkSafe NZ, the Ministry of Health and the Environmental Protection Authority.
All businesses operating in New Zealand are subject to the Fair Trading Act and other generic consumer and commercial legislation. Businesses trading with consumers are subject to the Consumer Guarantees Act, with a narrower set of businesses regulated by sector-specific legislation such as the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act.
Key business representative stakeholders include:
Consumer advice and advocacy groups are key consumer stakeholders and participants in the system, such as:
The Consumer Protection Partnership Forum enables connections across the consumer protection sector, develops a shared understanding of the roles in the system, and identifies opportunities to work together. Its members include MBIE, the Citizens Advice Bureau. Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission, Commerce Commission, Community Law Centres o Aotearoa, Consumer NZ, MBIE, Financial Markets Authority, FinCap and Netsafe.
MBIE has formal agreements with some consumer groups to provide reports and data on specific consumer issues. For example, Citizens Advice Bureau provides reports to MBIE.
Other engagement takes place through standard policy processes and legislative processes, including:
Parliamentary processes for consulting on bills also provide for public engagement.
Date of assessment: mid-2017
System performing well against criteria
Overall, the system is achieving its objectives. The National Consumer Survey 2016 found 96% of consumers are aware of laws to protect them if transactions go wrong, and 75% agreed in New Zealand you can generally buy goods and services and feel confident businesses will do the right thing and not try to mislead consumers. In addition, 56% of consumers agreed they have enough information about their rights when purchasing, and 57% sought extra information to check the accuracy of product or service claims. Consumer’s understanding of their rights under the relatively new Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act were lower than the longer standing Fair Trading and Consumer Guarantees Act rights.
The consumer protection and credit contracts elements of the system have been significantly reformed to improve the information available to consumers and provide increased levels of protection. While it is too soon to be able to draw definitive conclusions, there are signs the new legislative provisions have a significant positive impact on commercial environments historically the source of significant consumer detriment. For example, many standard form contracts have been altered to avoid breaching the new unfair contract term provisions of the Fair Trading Act. There has been significant enforcement activity in the mobile truck shop sector having an impact on the conduct of merchants. The additional funding provided to the Commerce Commission in 2016 resulted in levels of enforcement activity more aligned with community expectations.
System performing well against criteria
A comparison of the breadth of the consumer and commercial regulatory system with the relatively low input costs and the generally positive outcomes being achieved suggests that the system is efficient.
A regulatory charter for the system has been completed and a regulatory system assessment was completed in November 2018
The main enforcement agency, the Commerce Commission, completed a self- assessment in 2015 using the State Service’s Commission’s Performance Improvement Framework and ranks well in efficiency comparisons such as the benchmark of administrative and support services (BASS) survey.
System performing well against criteria
The rise of the digital economy is likely to present both challenges and opportunities to the consumer and commercial regulatory system. In particular, the increasing volume and value of cross-border e-commerce and the use of ‘big data’ to target particular groups of consumers will require ongoing monitoring and evaluation to ensure the system continues to deliver on its objectives. On the opportunity side, the increased availability of data new ways of using it has the potential to significantly enhance the consumer experience.
We are watching these emerging trends closely and we are well placed to look at alternative approaches to achieve system objectives.
System performing well against criteria
Enforcement action for serious breaches of the consumer protection components of the system is via the High Court which provides an independent and transparent process with significant appeal rights.
Information about the system is widely disseminated through a variety of our channels and Commerce Commission channels. Evidence from the National Consumer Survey suggests that this information is widely available and having a positive impact on consumer conduct and confidence.
Between December 2017 and September 2018, an internal panel in MBIE of people outside of the system conducted an assessment of the consumer and commercial regulatory system. This document presents the…
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https://www.mbie.govt.nz/cross-government-functions/regulatory-stewardship/regulatory-systems/consumer-and-commercial-regulatory-system/
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