Council saves hundreds of millions by winning argument over earthquake repair standards.

New Zealand exporters face less regulation and lower costs than their Australian counterparts, a new report says.

The Australian Productivity Commission has released the report, Performance Benchmarking of Australian and New Zealand Business Regulation: Food Safety.

Among its findings are that Australia’s charges for exporting are generally higher, its fee structure more complex and its regulatory system for exports less reliant on economical electronic processing than New Zealand’s.