Cook Islands has officially become a member of the Pacific Islands Network of Competition Consumer and Economic Regulators (PINCCER) - a ground breaking initiative aimed at fostering fair competition, pricing transparency, and robust consumer protection practices across the Pacific region.

This collaborative effort involves competition, consumer protection, and economic regulators from diverse Pacific economies, including Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, and now Cook Islands.

PINCCER, established to facilitate the exchange of intelligence, investigative techniques, and regulatory best practices, is already making strides in setting network protocols and defining key focus areas.

This initiative is particularly significant for small island developing economies in the Pacific, where authorities are actively enhancing their expertise and resources to address common challenges in the realms of fair competition, pricing, and consumer protection.

The Labour and Consumer Services, Ministry of Internal Affairs, expressed enthusiasm for Cook Islands' involvement in PINCCER, "This is a great initiative for the Cook Islands' economic development. The Ministry in collaboration with the Competition and Regulatory Authority and is now working on the review of the current Consumer Guarantee Act and Fair Trading Act. The Ministry is looking forward to working closely with member countries to build capacity, share experiences, and build a stronger combined Consumer and Competition voice from the Pacific."

As part of PINCCER, Cook Islands aims to contribute to building agency capabilities, fortifying the collective voice of competition and consumer protection authorities in smaller Pacific Island economies, and providing a focused forum to promote well-functioning markets. The initiative aligns with ongoing efforts in the Pacific region to enhance economic cooperation and address shared challenges.

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