Consumer watchdog to call for milk price inquiry

Consumer New Zealand will ask for a formal inquiry into milk prices tomorrow. File photo / Thinkstock

Consumer New Zealand will tomorrow ask Parliament's commerce select committee to launch a formal inquiry into milk prices.

"New Zealanders were promised a competitive milk market when Fonterra was set up in 2001. After 10 years of rising milk prices, it is time for the committee to hold an inquiry into what has gone wrong," Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin said today.

"It is outrageous that milk and cheese are so expensive in New Zealand, when this country is one of the biggest producers of dairy produce in the world."

Consumer NZ leads a coalition of community groups lobbying for an inquiry.

Ms Chetwin said if there was something wrong with the regulatory framework for milk markets it needed to be "identified and fixed as soon as possible".

- NZPA