Watchdog questions competition law changes

The consumer watchdog is concerned that proposed changes to competition laws could water down legislation governing cartels.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is also worried that the federal government's competition policy review is too focused on a simplification agenda.

At the same time, the ACCC in its submission to the so-called Harper Review's draft report says it does not support a recommendation that would separate infrastructure regulation from competition and consumer enforcement.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the commission supports most of the review panel's recommendations, which if adopted could significantly enhance productivity over the decades ahead.

"However, the ACCC strongly considers that it would be inappropriate to confuse specific policy issues with a focused simplification agenda," Mr Sims said in a statement.

He said there should be quite separate exercises - the specific policy changes to competition law can be done initially, followed by a more focused simplification exercise.

While the ACCC does support simplification, any amendments should not fundamentally alter the existing scope of the country's cartel laws.

On infrastructure regulation, the ACCC disagrees that because some different skills are required for different tasks, it follows that they should be undertaken by separate agencies.

"To the contrary, provided the overarching agency objectives are consistent, having a diversity of capabilities means a single agency is likely to be more effective in fulfilling such objectives," Mr Sims said.