Principles of NZ competition law increasingly used by others
Published10 Dec 1996
An international survey has shown that the principles on which New Zealand's competition law, the Commerce and Fair Trading Acts, are based, are increasingly being used by other Pacific rim countries in their competition law.
The survey was one of the topics discussed by Commerce Commission Chairman Dr Alan Bollard today at the Pacific Asian Forum for Trade and Development (PAFTAD) annual conference in Taiwan.
Dr Bollard presented a paper looking at competition law in the region, including a case study of the harmonisation of New Zealand and Australian competition law.
New Zealand's competition law is considered modern and innovative. Many of the principles on which it is based are also used as the basis for competition law in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Korea and Taiwan. They are also being used as the basis for new competition law being developed in Malaysia.
"There is considerable interest throughout the region in the work that was done in New Zealand to turn one of the most heavily regulated economies in the OECD into the innovative highly competitive economy we now have," Dr Bollard said.
"The Commission's role is to bring about awareness and compliance with the Commerce and Fair Trading Acts. These are the laws New Zealand uses to protect the competitive process."
There is also much interest in the steps New Zealand and Australia have taken to harmonise their competition laws.
This has involved inter-Government agreements, legal moves and agreements between Government organisations.
Examples include the CER agreement, amendments to laws to allow for single trans-Tasman markets and to allow New Zealand and Australian courts to sit in each other's jurisdictions in respect of competition law cases, and a co-operation agreement between the Commerce Commission and the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission.
Further work is being done by other New Zealand and Australian organisations on food regulations, standards for goods and licensing regulations for occupations.
However, Dr Bollard cautioned that the New Zealand and Australian experience of harmonisation may not be easily applicable to other countries. The nature of existing economic relationships between countries and the similarity of their underlying Government policies and legal systems are key factors in determining if harmonisation of competition law is possible or desirable.
New Zealand and Australia are economically interlinked in ways that benefit both countries. Government policies and legal systems are fairly similar. Even so, harmonisation of competition law has not been without its difficulties. There could be considerably more difficulties for countries that are less alike than New Zealand and Australia.
Media contact: Communications Officer Vincent Cholewa
