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Digest No. 1878

Commerce Commission (International Co-operation, and Fees) Bill 2008 (2010 No 293-2)

Date of Introduction: 09 September 2008
Portfolio: Commerce
Select Committee: Commerce
Date report presented: 22 November 2010
Published: 10 June 2011byJohn McSoriley BA LL.B, Barrister,Legislative AnalystP: (04) 817-9626 (Ext. 9626)F: (04) 817-1250Public enquiries:Parliamentary Information Service: (04 817-9647) Caution: This Digest was prepared to assist consideration of the Bill by members of Parliament. It has no official status.Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, it should not be taken as a complete or authoritative guide to the Bill. Other sources should be consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the Bill.

Purpose

The main aim of this Bill is to facilitate increased co-operation between the Commerce Commission (the Commission) and other overseas competition and consumer regulators (particularly the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the ACCC)). To do this, the Bill amends the Commerce Act 1986, the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003, and the Fair Trading Act 1986 to allow the Commission to use its statutory powers to provide investigative assistance to overseas regulators and to provide, subject to conditions, compulsorily acquired information to them

The Bill also makes amendments to the regulation-making powers in the Commerce Act 1986 to require the Commission to provide refunds, where appropriate, and to provide for fee exemptions for particular classes of persons [1]   .

The Bill as introduced is described in Bills Digest No 1758.

Main changes to the Bill

Co-operation with overseas regulators

The Select Committee has recommended that co-operation agreements may be either government-to-government co-operation arrangements or regulator-to-regulator arrangements (amending Clause 6, New Sections 99C, 99E, and 99G of the Commerce Act 1986 and inserting New Section 99EA).

Providing compulsorily acquired information and investigative assistance

The Select Committee has recommended a consultative procedure where the Commission is concerned that a request for assistance might have significant international trade implications. The Commission may consult the Minister of Trade, after consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and then rely on a statement by the Minister of Trade as to whether providing the information or assistance would significantly prejudice New Zealand’s international trade interests. Before providing such information, the Commission would have to be satisfied that the information would not significantly prejudice New Zealand’s international trade interests (amending Clause 6, New Section 99H of the Commerce Act 1986 by inserting new subparagraph (2)(c) and new paragraphs (2A) and (2B)).

Copyright: © NZ Parliamentary Library, 2011
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence. In essence, you are free to copy, distribute and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to the Parliamentary Library and abide by the other licence terms. To view a copy of this licence, visit : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz/.

  1. Commerce Commission (International Co-operation and Fees) Bill, 2008 No 293-1, Explanatory note, General policy statement, p. 1.   [back]