We carry out periodic reviews of the Commerce Act to ensure it reflects modern regulatory practice and continues to deliver benefits to New Zealanders.
The Commerce Act is New Zealand's generic competition law. It also provides economic regulation of goods or services in markets with monopoly characteristics.
Consultation on the review of section 36 of the Commerce Act relating to the misuse of market power, along with other minor changes began on 25 January 2019 and closed on 1 April 2019.
The exposure draft of the Commerce (Cartels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill was released in 2011, and submissions were received later that same year.
The competition regime for international shipping agreements is to be transitioned to the Commerce Act. The new provisions take effect on 17 August 2019.
We carried out a targeted review of the Commerce Act, which looked at the misuse of market power, market studies and alternative enforcement mechanisms.