Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Consumer Law Reform Bill — First Reading 
Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Consumer Law Reform Bill — First Reading 
[Advance Copy - Subject to minor change before inclusion in Bound Volume.] 
KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National) 
: 
 First of all I would like to congratulate the Hon Chris Tremain on the introduction of this bill which is the first major reform in two decades. I support this Consumer Law Reform Bill. This bill represents an example of modernising and maintaining the relevance of legislation in line with regulatory responsibilities. The Consumer Law Reform Bill seeks to ensure that the laws which protect our citizens are up to date so that consumers can undertake the sale and purchase of goods and services with confidence. By introducing this bill once again we ensure that the National Government is committed to the protection of buyers and sellers in New Zealand. We want to create an atmosphere where both buyers and sellers who obey the law of the land are protected against unlawful conduct by those who do not obey the law. This bill will strengthen consumers’ rights and it also acknowledges the interests of businesses. It will also simplify and clarify business compliance and create a more even playing field where reputable businesses are rewarded. 
The bill makes a number of significant changes that I would like to acknowledge and commend. The Fair Trading Act prohibits both misleading and deceptive conduct and false or misleading representation. However this is difficult and expensive for the Commerce Commission to enforce. This bill prohibits unsubstantiated representations from being made about a product or service unless the person has reasonable grounds for the claim. The bill provides that the person may later be asked by the Commerce Commission to substantiate any claims that have been made about a product. A defence built into the bill is that the person can rely on the information they obtained to support the claim. The unsubstantiated representation protection will help to prevent fictitious claims being made by businesses for commercial gain thereby improving consumers’ confidence and creating a level playing field for all businesses. 
New Zealand’s consumer laws are either self-enforcing or enforced by the Government when carrying out its investigation and prosecution functions. Good consumer law needs to be both enforceable and enforced. It is therefore important that for the enforcement appropriate provisions are in place. The bill identifies two areas of enforcement that could be improved; hence the inclusion of court-enforceable undertakings and management banning orders in the new Fair Trading Act provisions. The Commerce Commission may currently enter into an agreement with a person to amend their behaviour as a result of an apparent breach of the Fair Trading Act. At the moment however such an agreement is not easily enforced if it is breached. The Commerce Commission enforces the Commerce Act and the Financial Markets Authority has court enforcement undertaking powers. The provisions in the bill will give similar powers under the Fair Trading Act. 
At the moment there is an unintended incentive for the Commerce Commission to prosecute a person to ensure a result. The bill proposes to make an agreement entered into legally enforceable. This will allow the Commerce Commission to take the person to court if an agreement is breached creating more transparent and enforceable law. The bill also proposes the introduction of management banning orders: penalty provisions for use in the situation when an individual has been convicted for repeat offences under the Fair Trading Act. A management banning order is something I consider to be significant because a personal consequence is that it can seriously affect a person’s future earnings. However in some cases the fines imposed are not a significant enough deterrent to prevent future undesirable trading activities. 
It is because of these two and many other welcome changes that I lend my support to the Consumer Law Reform Bill.