Price Monitoring and Consumer Affairs (Act No. 5 of 2023).

The Act establishes the Bureau of Price Monitoring and Consumer Affairs in Vanuatu as a corporate body tasked with monitoring prices and promoting consumer welfare. It defines key terms, sets out the Bureau’s composition—bringing together government, industry, and consumer representatives appointed for three-year terms—and provides governance rules, including election of leaders, meeting procedures, quorum, conflict-of-interest rules, and committees. The Bureau is mandated to collect and analyse price data, maintain a national pricing database for at least ten years, assess economic and social impacts, designate “monitored” goods or services, implement non-regulatory interventions such as consumer awareness campaigns and market collaboration, and recommend regulatory measures when needed. The Minister may, following consultation and public notice, fix prices, regulate profits, or otherwise control prices of monitored goods. The Bureau must also maintain a consumer complaints system, investigate complaints, and enforce compliance through inspectors with powers to inspect premises, collect information, and ensure adherence to the Act. Offences include obstruction, false information, overpricing, and price manipulation, with penalties and/or imprisonment.