Establishment and Development of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs

Background Paper to Creating Confident Consumers

May 2003

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Summary

A number of key issues and themes in the Ministry's establishment and development are evident. These are:

• New functions-originally the Ministry was composed of a small policy and operations unit. The addition of new functions appears to have been ad hoc, a response to a change in the activities and resources of other agencies.
• Legislation-a driver behind the Ministry's establishment was the uncoordinated approach to consumer law. It was not, however, until relatively recently that the Ministry has been in a position to update and review significant pieces of consumer legislation.
• Institutional arrangement-at the time of the Ministry's establishment the mechanism through which it would retain an independent voice on consumer policy matters was not resolved. The current Delegation is in response to the State Sector and Public Finance Acts.
• Purpose and objectives-in response to the horizontal nature of consumer policy the Ministry's purpose and objectives have, over time, become increasingly refined, focusing on a narrow definition of a consumer in the marketplace.
• Relationship to MED-the Ministry is an operating branch of MED and contributes to its major outcome by addressing the barriers that consumers face when making effective purchasing decisions.

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