The New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) is consulting on new draft Misuse of Market Power Guidelines (Draft Guidelines). Submissions are due by 18 November 2022. Purpose of and background to the Draft Guidelines The Draft Guidelines explain how the NZCC proposes to assess conduct under the new test for misuse of market power which will …
Changes to the New Zealand Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) take force on 16 August 2022 which: Prohibit unconscionable conduct Extend the unfair contract terms regime to small trade contracts Entitle consumers to direct uninvited direct sellers to leave or not enter their property These changes are aimed at reducing the prevalence of unfair commercial …
The New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) released its draft report on its residential building supplies market study (Draft Report) on 4 August 2022. The NZCC’s preliminary view is that “competition for the supply and acquisition of key building supplies is not working as well as it could if it was easier for building products to …
New Zealand’s test for anticompetitive unilateral conduct will change from 5 April 2023. Persons with substantial market power will be prohibited from engaging in conduct that has the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition in a relevant market. The NZCC is expected to publish guidelines on the application of the new law. …
Competition law developments overseas can influence domestic thinking and trends. Two noteworthy recent international competition law developments are: The EC’s new vertical agreement exemptions and guidelines – What lessons can we take in applying NZ competition law to vertical agreements? The new chair of the ACCC’s speech on international collaboration of competition regulators – To …
The New Zealand Government has announced its full response to the New Zealand Commerce Commission’s (NZCC) market study into the retail grocery sector which found competition is not working well for consumers and supermarkets earn NZ$1M a day in excess profits. The Government has accepted 12 of the NZCC’s 14 recommendations – and the 2 …
On 1st April 2022 Matthews Law celebrates its birthday and the start of its 10th year in business as New Zealand’s leading specialist competition law firm. Thank you to all our clients and colleagues for your continued support.
On 30 March 2022 the Commerce Amendment Bill (Bill) passed its third reading and should receive royal assent soon. The Bill will: replace the test for misuse of market power extend the prohibition on cartel conduct to cartel provisions in covenants remove intellectual property exceptions empower the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) to grant interim …
On 8 March 2022 the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) released its final report on its study on competition in the retail grocery sector. The final report is the product of over a year of work after the NZCC was directed to look at factors affecting competition in the retail grocery sector on 17 November …