Open the Door to Supermarket Competition

The weekly shop is expensive enough without Government making it harder for another supermarket to open. Kiwis need more businesses competing for their custom and giving them a reason to shop elsewhere.

Before a new competitor sells its first bottle of milk, it has to navigate approvals from councils and government agencies. Open in several towns and the local requirements change each time. Alcohol licensing can hold up an opening. Imported food may need special packaging or a sticker on every item before it can be sold here.

Those costs favour the businesses already here. ACT will make it easier for new supermarkets to open and grow, so shoppers have more places to take their business.

ACT will:

• Create a one-stop consenting shop. Bring the consents, licences and other approvals needed to open stores into one coordinated process, including when a business wants to open across multiple council areas. The aim is to get decisions in months, rather than years.

• Make alcohol licensing faster and simpler. Deal with applications earlier, instead of leaving licensing hearings until a new supermarket is almost ready to open.

• Recognise food labels from trusted overseas systems by default. Accept labels that meet UK, EU or US requirements, removing the need for New Zealand-specific packaging runs or item-by-item relabelling simply because the information is presented differently.

• Cut regulatory barriers to opening new stores. Remove unnecessary and inconsistent local requirements that add cost and delay when a supermarket wants to open in a new town.

In our team's words:

ACT Leader David Seymour says:

“ACT would create a one-stop consenting shop for new market entrants - a single point where a business looking to open, or open multiple sites, can get their consents, their liquor licences, their approvals, in months, not years.

“ACT will allow food labels for trusted regulatory systems like UK, EU and US by default. This will lower the barrier to entry for international supermarkets, who will no longer need to do expensive runs of products specifically for the tiny Australasian market to open stores. ACT will roll out the welcome mat.

“Rather than joining the race to the bottom where we attack successful businesses, ACT’s policy is to make it easier for new businesses to come here, compete, and expand.”