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Commerce Commission Publishes 2015 Consumer Issues Report

Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on October 6th, 2015.    

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Background
The Commerce Commission has released its second Consumer Issues Report.  The report identifies key issues and emerging risks that have the potential to affect consumers in New Zealand, and upcoming areas of focus for the Commerce Commission.  The report is based on industry information and recent consumer complaints received by the Commission.   
 
Key identified issues
Some of the key issues the Commerce Commission identified as having the greatest potential impact to consumers include:
  • Supermarket misrepresentations, which may cause low detriment to individuals but high cumulative detriment to consumers as a group;
  • Misrepresentation of country of origin labelling;
  • A disproportionate number of complaints are generated by a small number of traders (particularly for the telecommunications and domestic appliance retail industries);
  • Industry associations feature frequently in cartel investigations.  The Commerce Commission has clear guidelines to assist industry associations to avoid allegations of price fixing and other cartel conduct.
The Commerce Commission uses the Consumer Issues Report to identify areas of focus for internal planning and priorities for the following year.  2015 marks the first year the Commission has released this report to the public at the time it was produced.  The inaugural 2014 report was released in May 2015 under the Official Information Act. 

The Commerce Commission’s report provides guidance and insight for businesses who deal with consumers about the issues that are likely to be addressed by the Commission in the near future.

For the Commerce Commission infographic on this subject please click here.

For the full report click here. 

For further information on this subject please contact the Business Law team or your usual Jackson Russell adviser. 

Disclaimer
The information contained in this publication is of a general nature and is not intended as legal advice.  It is important that you seek legal advice that is specific to your circumstances.
 
All rights reserved © Jackson Russell 2015
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Darryl King Publications2
Darryl King,
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