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The principal source of New Zealand competition law is the Commerce Act 1986. The purpose of this Act is to promote competition in markets for the long-term benefit of New Zealand consumers. It sets out to achieve this through provisions that facilitate the efficient operation of markets. In particular, it:

• prohibits the establishment or operation of business arrangements which substantially lessen competition;
• prohibits firms from taking advantage of a substantial degree of market power for anti-competitive purposes;
• provides for the scrutiny of mergers and take-overs to prevent a substantial lessening of competition; and
• provides for price control in markets where there is an absence of competition.
  

The Commerce Act was amended in 2001. A key change was the lowering of the merger threshold from one of 'dominance' to that of 'substantially lessening competition'.

The Commerce Commission, New Zealand's competition authority, may initiate an investigation into an alleged breach of the Act, which it does on the basis of information provided by the public and as a result of its own monitoring and surveillance activities.

The Commerce Commission does not provide policy advice. The Ministry of Economic Development is responsible for the provision of policy advice relating to competition law. Policy advice is primarily contained in the documents published by the Ministry of Economic Development as on its website, www.med.govt.nz, in the section entitled "List of Publications and Subscription Details".