Commerce Commission Enforcement Priorities – what this means for your business

The Commerce Commission has signaled a greater appetite for risk and an intention to increase its enforcement litigation in announcing its enforcement priorities for the 2026/2027 period.

Businesses should ensure they have transparent pricing practices, and avoid anti-competitive agreements or practices.

Decisions to take enforcement action are guided by the Commission’s enduring and specific priorities, which are announced annually.  There is a degree of consistency in these priorities, but what is new for the 2026/2027 year are the following priorities:

• Pricing and promotional practices: The Commission will prioritise practices that mislead consumers about price, savings or urgency.  This coincides with the intended increase to Fair Trading Act penalties from $600,000 per offence to $5 million per offence, which is currently before parliament.
• Exclusive arrangements that impact competition: Focusing on exclusive arrangements that make it harder for other businesses to compete, such as limiting access to customers or suppliers.  Exclusive arrangements have been under scrutiny in a number of jurisdictions around the world.  Care should be taken to consider the impact on competition if entering into an exclusive arrangement in light of this heightened scrutiny from the Commission.
• Non-notified mergers. Although New Zealand’s merger clearance regime is voluntary, the Commission has indicated that it will be placing greater focus on mergers where the parties have chosen not to notify the Commission, and whether those mergers are likely to substantially lessen competition.  This is an enduring priority, and may result in an increase in the number of transactions for which clearance is sought.

The specific priorities carried over from last year are: cartels in public procurement (particularly in infrastructure contracts); online sales conduct (including fake reviews, subscription traps, drip pricing and misleading scarcity claims); and grocery sector breaches (including breach of obligations to act in good faith).

The Commission has retained the following enduring priorities: Cartels, anti-competitive conduct, actions that support market and economic regulation functions, and product safety.

If anything in this article raises a question about your pricing and promotions, arrangements with competitors, online marketing practices, or a deal you're considering, our team would welcome the chance to talk it through before it becomes a problem.

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