Past reviews of the Commerce Act

Commerce (International Co-operation, and Fees) Amendment Act 2012

The Commerce (International Co-operation, and Fees) Amendment Act 2012 inserted new sections 99B to 99P into the Commerce Act, to provide for co-operation by the Commerce Commission with overseas competition regulators.

The amendments authorise the Commerce Commission to:

• provide investigative assistance to the recognised overseas regulator, to assist it in carrying out its work in relation to competition law
• to share compulsorily acquired information held by the Commerce Commission.

This co-operation must be in accordance with an agreement made under the Act, and must be subject to a variety of safeguards.

The amendments were made following a 2008 review of information sharing by the Commerce Commission, which had the particular purpose of promoting cooperation with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Cooperation with overseas regulators is important given the prevalence of cross-border commerce and the potential for businesses based overseas to affect competition in New Zealand markets.

Similar amendments were also made to the Fair Trading Act 1986 and the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003.

Commerce (International Co-operation, and Fees) Amendment Act 2012(external link)