(1)
The responsible Minister may assign responsibility for a decision on the appropriate response to an issue relating to a harmful organism or pathway.
(2)
The process for the Minister to assign responsibility must be set out in regulations.
(3)
If the Minister assigns responsibility to a department or regional council,—
the Minister may specify a time within which the decision must be made; and
the Minister may extend the time if the Minister considers that exceptional circumstances exist justifying the extension; and
the department or regional council must make the decision within the time or extended time.
Section 55: replaced, on 18 September 2012, by section 39 of the Biosecurity Law Reform Act 2012 (2012 No 73).