Release of Initial Think Piece Document for the Review of the Enforcement of Consumer Protection Law

Review of the Redress and Enforcement Provisions of Consumer Protection Law

MCA has commenced a review of the redress and enforcement provisions in the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) and the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA). The purpose of the review is to try and measure the effectiveness of the current redress and enforcement provisions in the legislation and then to assess whether there is a need to amend either the FTA or the CGA.

In this review the effectiveness of the redress and the enforcement provisions in the FTA and the CGA will be measured against the desired policy outcome that consumers' reasonable expectations of transactions are being met.

The redress and enforcement provisions that are available in the FTA and the CGA will be compared with the provisions found in consumer protection legislation in similar jurisdictions overseas. Where other jurisdictions have redress and enforcement provisions in their consumer protection legislation that are not found in the FTA or the CGA an assessment will be made as to whether their availability would provide assistance in the achievement of the desired policy outcome. Theoretical and conceptual literature focusing on consumer protection legislation, how compliance can be achieved and the effectiveness of different enforcement measures will inform this review. The review will also make use of two surveys that MCA is conducting during 2005.

This initial think piece document outlines the scope of the project and provides a summary of the theoretical and conceptual literature which underpins the review's subject matter. MCA welcomes any comments that you may have on the approach that is being proposed and any suggestions on literature sources that may better inform the review. MCA also invites comments on the intervention logic that has been developed, the assumptions that are being made and the way we are proposing to test out assumptions.

Submissions close on 31 August 2005 but as this is a long term project MCA would welcome suggestions made after this date as well. Please forward your comments to:

Policy - Consumer Law and Marketplace Regulation
Ministry of Consumer Affairs
PO Box 1473
Wellington
email: enforcement-review@mca.govt.nz
Phone: 04-474 2750
Fax: 04-473 9400

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