Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Paul Goldsmith is calling for further submissions on the misuse of market power.

He says the government released an issues paper in November 2015 which sought feedback on whether aspects of the current law protecting consumers from anti-competitive behaviour by businesses are working well.

"We received 39 submissions on three areas of the Commerce Act: the misuse of market power, the cease and desist regime and whether the Commerce Commission should have a power to undertake market studies," he says.

"I was pleased with the strong level of interest and the range of views expressed in the submissions. I am now seeking further information from stakeholders and in particular on the misuse of market power provision that is contained in section 36 of the Commerce Act."

Mr Goldsmith says section 36 is widely recognised as one of the most complex areas in competition law and he wants to ensure that all the relevant aspects of the law are fully considered before any decisions are made on the next steps.

He says the consultation will close on 21 July 2016 and further information plus details of the submissions received on the issues paper are available on the MBIE website here.

The New Zealand Law Society submission made some general comments on the issues paper.