Price Regulation
The Commission is tasked with the responsibility of regulating prices of certain declared goods that are declared by the Minister for Treasury. The Commission commenced its pricing reforms in 2004 for all the declared goods and these declared goods are the results of the pricing reforms and are declared by the Minister for Treasury for the purpose of price regulation. In determining the approach for regulation, the Commission has opted to apply the price monitoring approach in regulating these declared goods.
Declared Goods
Ramu Sugar Products
In its role of regulating prices of certain declared goods and services, the Commission has the responsibility to regulate prices of Ramu sugar products. Nearly all of the sugar products in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are manufactured and distributed by Ramu Agri Industries Limited (RAIL) and more recently other importers who import directly from overseas manufacturers and distribute packaged sugar products. Briefly, the current regulatory arrangements under the Prices Regulation Act (“PR Act”) Chapter 320, allow the Commission to monitor the ex-factory gate prices of Ramu sugar products supplied by RAIL on a monthly basis under the provisions of Section 32A of the PR Act and compares these price movements against the benchmark prices from the New Zealand Statistics and the National Statistics Office retail sugar prices.
Rice Products – 1KG Roots Rice Brand
The Commission’s role in regulating the rice industry in PNG is very much centered on the Roots rice products supplied by Trukai Industries Limited (Trukai). As a declared good, Trukai is required to supply its factory gate pricelist of Roots rice to the Commission on a quarterly basis. The Commission collates these price movements and compares their movements to the data sourced from the New Zealand Statistics and the National Statistics Office.
Flour Industry Price Monitoring
Similar to the roots rice regime, the Commission also regulates and monitors the prices of flour products supplied by both Goodman Fielder Asia Pacific Limited with their brand of Flame flour and the 3-Roses flour supplied by the Niugini Tablebirds under Mainland Holdings Limited. The Commission receives quarterly prices from these two flour suppliers and compares their price movement against the New Zealand Statistics available online for free access.
Price Surveillance
The price surveillance for the wholesale and retail sectors is undertaken by the Commission on a monthly basis. This is to help the Commission track the price movement of declared goods against non-declared goods.
The Commission compares price movement at the factory gate level against the wholesale and retail prices charged to consumers. This applies to Flour, Roots Rice, and Ramu Sugar.
The price surveillance is done in Port Moresby, Kokopo, Lae, and Goroka.
Declared Services
ICCC regulates and monitors only the goods and services that are declared by the Minster for Treasury. These declarations are made under Sections 10 and 32A of the Prices Regulation Act.
Currently, the Commission provides regulatory oversight for the following services:
1. PMV & Taxi Fares
The ICCC sets the maximum fares for all licensed PMV routes in the country, both the urban and non-urban PMV routes. It also set the taxi fares, especially in centres where taxi services are provided. Currently, taxi services are only provided in Port Moresby, Lae, Mt. Hagen, Kokopo, and Alotau. The regulatory period for PMV & Taxi is set for five years, and taxi fares are adjusted annually. The main factors used by the ICCC to annually adjust the maximum fares are fuel prices and the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
2. Petroleum Products (Petrol, Diesel, & Kerosene)
The 1997 Napa Napa Project Agreement between the State and InterOil sets the platform for the downstream Petroleum Industry in the country. The ICCC only administers the section of the Project Agreement that concerns the supply and pricing of petroleum products, particularly Petrol, Diesel, and Kerosene (Jet A1). The ICCC independently verifies the Import Parity Prices (IPPs) supplied by InterOil (now Puma Energy) every month to calculate the Maximum Indicative Retail Prices (IRP) for these petroleum products. The ICCC also monitors the quarterly domestic road and sea freights to determine the area-specific retail prices for the declared refined fuel products.
3. Water & Sewerage
Under the current price regulatory arrangement for Water & Sewerage services, the ICCC uses a price-cap approach by determining the Maximum Average Prices (MAPs) for water and sewerage services supplied by Water PNG Limited. This arrangement provides some flexibility for the water utility to decide its bands and tariffs, but within the parameter that the entity’s volume-weighted average prices for all its tariffs must not exceed the ICCC-approved MAPs. This regulatory arrangement commenced in January 2023 and will be reviewed in January 2027, in light of its expiry in December 2027.
4. Stevedoring & Handling
In the previous regulatory period (2009-2013), the ICCC was monitoring the stevedoring and handling charges against the quarterly movements in the retail diesel prices for Lae, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Under this arrangement, the licensed stevedoring companies operating in the declared Ports within PNG submit to the ICCC quarterly their stevedoring and handling charges. The ICCC would then observe the movements in these charges against certain benchmark prices. If there is some form of divergence between the prices, the ICCC would seek clarifications from these Stevedoring companies and if the ICCC is not satisfied, the ICCC may propose to the Minister for Treasury to declare the service for Direct Price Control. This monitoring arrangement was discontinued during the 2013 Review due to some contentious and related issues that were before the court, however, the Ministerial Declaration made under the Prices Regulation Act was and is still in effect to date. The ICCC is undertaking a pricing review into the Stevedoring and Handling services in 2023 to determine if some form of regulation needs to be applied from 2024 onwards.
Fuel Prices
ICCC sets price margins and monitor fuel prices to ensure that retailers sell within that margin.
Indicative Retail Fuel Prices – November 2023
The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (“ICCC”) hereby announces the new retail fuel prices for this month, which will take effect on Wednesday, 8th November 2023. For this month, the Indicative Retail Prices (IRPs) for petrol, diesel and kerosene will...
PRESS STATEMENT: Indicative Retail Fuel Prices – October 2023
The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (“ICCC”) hereby announces the new retail fuel prices for this month, which will take effect on Sunday, 8th October 2023. For this month, the Indicative Retail Prices (IRPs) for petrol, diesel, and...
PRESS STATEMENT: Indicative Retail Fuel Prices – September 2023
The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (“ICCC”) hereby announces the new retail fuel prices for this month, which will take effect on Friday, 8th September 2023. For this month, the Indicative Retail Prices (IRPs) for petrol, diesel,...
INDICATIVE RETAIL FUEL PRICES – AUGUST 2023
The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (“ICCC”) hereby announces the new retail fuel prices for this month, which will take effect on Tuesday, 8th August 2023. For this month, the Indicative Retail Prices (IRPs) for petrol, diesel and kerosene will all...
INDICATIVE RETAIL FUEL PRICES – JULY 2023
INDEPENDENT CONSUMER & COMPETITION COMMISSION PRESS STATEMENT INDICATIVE RETAIL FUEL PRICES - JULY 2023 The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (“ICCC”) hereby announces the new retail fuel prices for this month, which will take effect on Saturday,...