New Zealand Legislation: Acts
Acts are laws made by Parliament
(1) Where any action taken in accordance with any provision in Part 6 of this Act in an attempt to eradicate any organism would be in breach of the provisions of Part 3 of the Resource Management Act 1991, the responsible Minister may exempt the actions taken in relation to that organism from the provisions of Part 3 of the Resource Management Act 1991 for up to 20 working days if that Minister is satisfied that it is likely that—
(a) The organism is not established in New Zealand, the organism is not known to be established in New Zealand, or the organism is established in New Zealand but is restricted to certain parts of New Zealand; and
(b) The organism has the potential to cause all or any of significant economic loss, significant adverse effects on human health, or significant environmental loss if it becomes established in New Zealand or if it becomes established throughout New Zealand; and
(c) It is in the public interest that action be taken immediately in an attempt to eradicate the organism.
(2) Before making a decision under subsection (1), the responsible Minister must consult the relevant consent authority (to the extent that is possible in the circumstances), and may consult such other persons as the responsible Minister considers are representative of the persons likely to be affected by the eradication attempt.
(3) After making a decision under subsection (1), the responsible Minister must give public notice of the Minister's decision in such a manner as the Minister thinks fit.
(4) The public notice must specify—
(a) The organism to be eradicated; and
(b) The principal actions that may be taken in the attempt to eradicate the organism; and
(c) The areas affected by the action.
(5) A failure to comply with the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) does not affect the validity of any exemption given under this section.
(6) Where any action has been exempted from Part 3 of the Resource Management Act 1991 under subsection (1) and the responsible Minister considers that it is necessary to continue action beyond the duration of the exemption to attempt to eradicate the organism, that Minister may recommend that regulations be made continuing the exemption and the Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make regulations for that purpose.
(7) Regulations made under this section come into force on the date of notification in the Gazette, or at the time specified in the regulations, whichever is the later, and continue in force until revoked or until a date not later than the day 2 years after the regulations came into force when the regulations expire and are deemed to have been revoked.
(8) Where an exemption is granted under subsection (1) or by regulations made under subsection (6), the provisions of Part 3 of the Resource Management Act 1991 do not apply to the actions taken to eradicate the organism while the exemption is in force.
(9) Where an exemption from the provisions of the Resource Management Act 1991 has been granted under subsection (1) or by regulations made under subsection (6) and that exemption has ended (either by the expiry of the exemption under subsection (1) or by the revocation of the regulations, as the case may be), the provisions of the Resource Management Act 1991 then apply and the responsible Minister must remedy or mitigate the adverse effects of any actions taken under Part 6 and to which the provisions of the Resource Management Act 1991, but for the exemption under this section, would otherwise have applied.
(10) For the purposes of this section, consent authority has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Resource Management Act 1991.
Section 7A was inserted, as from 26 November 1997, by section 4 Biosecurity Amendment Act 1997 (1997 No 89).