The Fair Trading Act Handbook

The Fair Trading Act is one of the most frequently used and widely recognised pieces of commercial, trading and consumer legislation in New Zealand. The Act’s broad language and wide scope means that it potentially has a role to play in almost every commercial transaction people might enter into, including contracts for services or for the purchase of goods or land, how goods or services are advertised or described, and to more ‘behind the scenes’ aspects of commercial transactions like ensuring that products or services offered meet minimum standards of safety and information disclosure. In 2013, the Fair Trading Amendment Act introduced several new provisions into the Act to ensure that it remained relevant in the new era of online purchasing, and to address emerging issues identified by consumers as significant to their purchasing decision-making.

The Fair Trading Act Handbook is a successor to Trotman & Wilson Fair Trading: Misleading or Deceptive Conduct, which focused specifically on the s9 prohibition on misleading or deceptive conduct and the remedies available for breach of that section. Its two editions have been widely used by practitioners and cited in the courts.

With the introduction of a new purpose section and new provisions in 2013, and the anticipated increasing use of these and the other provisions, The Fair Trading Act Handbook provides a timely broadening of the respected commentary of its predecessor. It discusses all of the substantive provisions, as well as the civil and criminal remedies available following breach. It considers relevant cases on these provisions, and where information is available, discusses the Commerce Commission’s use of more informal means of educating traders to enhance compliance through the use of compliance advice and warning letters.