By Stephen Wright


New Zealand's commerce regulator will get new powers allowing it to compel supermarket operators to hand over information about land banking and other practices that prevent potential competitors from operating, the government said Tuesday.

The planned change is part of efforts to boost competition in the grocery industry, which is dominated by Woolworths Ltd. and franchises under the Foodstuffs cooperative.

"We're cracking down on the anti-competitive land wars we've seen for years, where the supermarkets have been allowed to buy up land or dictate the terms of leases to block their competitors from getting a foothold in a neighbourhood," said Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark in a statement.

Among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development group of wealthy nations, New Zealand's grocery prices were fourth highest when considered as a proportion of income, the Commerce Commission said last year, following a study of the grocery market.


Write to Stephen Wright at stephen.wright@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-21-22 0056ET