ABSTRACT
The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) defines a co-operative as “an autonomous association of persons united to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise”.1 The co-operative movement had a fairly long and chequered history in PNG. It thrived during the colonial period, but declined to oblivion post-Independence. Indeed, but for recent developments, one would be tempted to leave the study of the law of co-operatives in PNG to legal historians. The most important of these developments include the creation in 2000 of the Office of Cooperative Societies Unit, within the Department of Trade and Industry, with a mandate to revitalise the co-operative sector; and, in 2003, the promulgation of a new set of Cooperative Regulations. In addition, official rhetoric suggests that the government is beginning to give priority or at least some impetus to revitalising the co-operative movement in PNG. Before we focus on the co-operative movement in PNG, it is important for readers to understand the nature of the co-operative form of business organisation and the difference between it and other business organisations.
