Easter Sunday trading rules 'confusing', need overhaul, EMA says

A business association says Easter Sunday trading rules are confusing and need an overhaul.

Restrictions on alcohol sales have just been eased, so that venues that could already open over Easter can now sell alcohol to customers without the requirement they buy a meal.

Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) head of advocacy Alan McDonald told RNZ now was a good time to look at the Shop Trading Hours Act as well.

"Obviously they've eased up some of the alcohol laws to clarify them because they were very complex - the Easter ones are just as complex.

"It's been time to look at them for a long time," he added.

Easter Sunday was not a statutory public holiday and retailers should be able to decide for themselves whether they open on that day, McDonald said.

A 2016 change to the Shop Trading Hours Act also meant city and district councils could create their own Easter Sunday shopping policies for their respective territories, adding to the confusion, he said.

"You get all sorts of anomalies. Queenstown for example, I think, opens, Rotorua doesn't. Parts of Parnell in Auckland are allowed to open, but other parts of Auckland aren't allowed to open.

"You just end up with a multitude of confusing options."

There are three types of exemption to the shop shutdowns:
- Tourist resorts such as Taupō and Queenstown on Easter Sunday only
- Places where the local council has said shops can open on Easter Sunday only
- Certain kinds of shops (limited to "small grocery shops", service stations, takeaways, bars, cafes, duty-free stores, "shops providing services" (and not selling things), real estate agencies, pharmacies, garden centres (only on Easter Sunday), public transport terminals, souvenir shops and exhibitions "devoted entirely or primarily to agriculture, art, industry and science").
The rules needed to be standardised, McDonald said.