NZ appoints grocery sector commissioner

The New Zealand Government has proceeded with its push to quash anti-competitive behaviour in the supermarket and grocery sector by announcing that it will be appointing a grocery commissioner.

The Grocery Commission’s role will be to boost competitive behaviour in the sector, which has been criticised in the past for operating as a duopoly constituted by the country’s two supermarket giants.

The industry watchdog will be based in the Commerce Commission, which conducted a market study of the supermarket industry in the country. The market study made 14 recommendations for the government, 12 of which were endorsed or adopted with the remaining two modified with stricter conditions.

The NZ Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Dr David Clark, said that the appointment of the commissioner would help to reduce costs for consumers and push the supermarket industry to act in a fashion that increases competition.

“The grocery commissioner will be a referee of the sector, keeping the supermarket duopoly honest and blowing the whistle where it suspects there is a problem. They will maintain a close eye on how government’s reforms for the sector are implemented and ensure Kiwis are getting a fair deal at the checkout.

“By placing this role in the Commerce Commission it will have access to a wealth of information when it comes to economic and competition regulation, fair trading, consumer protection and the grocery sector itself.

The first commissioner is set to be officially appointed when the Grocery Industry Competition Bill has passed. Additionally, the government has released a mandatory code of conduct paper, now open for consultation, which is intended to ensure suppliers to the supermarkets get a good deal on their wares.

Consumer NZ has welcomed the move by the government to appoint the commissioner and for the release of the code of conduct.

“This is one of many moving parts in response to the Commerce Commission’s market study and we are impressed with the speed at which the government is moving,” said Consumer NZ Chief Executive Jon Duffy.

“This sends a clear message to the supermarkets: they cannot keep making super profits at the expense of struggling consumers.

“That said, the devil is in the detail — the Grocery Industry Competition Bill will set the powers of the regulator, and the mandatory code of conduct will set the rules for fair play between supermarket industry participants.”

The code of conduct is available on the MBIE website.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Denys Kurbatov