Part of New Zealand’s new fuel regulatory regime comes into effect tomorrow, 11 August 2021. The regime implements the Commerce Commission’s (NZCC’s) recommendations from its 2019 competition study into the retail fuel sector.
This is topical with the recent release of the draft report for the retail grocery sector competition study. There are sentiments that nothing came out of the fuel study, but the government endorsed the majority of the NZCC’s recommendations and the draft legislation implementing them only took 6 weeks from being introduced to Parliament to being enacted on 11 August 2020. The Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister has likewise indicated in an interview about the draft grocery report that they are determined to act on the final recommendations they’re given.
The new fuel reforms taking effect tomorrow include
- Terminal gate pricing – Wholesale suppliers will be obligated to publicly post a “terminal gate price” for specified engine fuels and must supply at this price unless there are reasonable grounds to refuse supply.
- Wholesale contract rules – For example wholesale suppliers will be prohibited from entering into a fixed wholesale contract that is likely to limit the ability of a reseller to compete and is not reasonably necessary.
- Dispute resolution procedures – The Fuel Industry Act 2020 provides mediation and arbitration procedures to resolve disputes about wholesale contracts and terminal gate price rules.
The remaining fuel reforms regarding information to be displayed on price boards and other information disclosure requirements are scheduled to come into effect on 11 February 2022.
Further information
If you have any queries please contact andy.matthews@matthewslaw.co.nz, genelle.seah@matthewslaw.co.nz or danny.xie@matthewslaw.co.nz.