Biosecurity Act 1993

57 Process for making national policy direction

(1)

The responsible Minister must prepare a proposed national policy direction (proposal).

(2)

After preparing the proposal, the Minister must establish, and then use, a process that—

(a)

the Minister is satisfied gives adequate time and opportunity to the following to make a submission on the proposal:

(i)

management agencies; and

(ii)

the rest of the public; and

(b)

requires a report and recommendations to be made to the Minister on the submissions and the subject matter of the proposal.

(3)

When the Minister receives the report and recommendations, the Minister must consider them.

(4)

If the Minister does not accept a recommendation, the Minister must publish the Minister’s reasons on an Internet site maintained by or on behalf of the Ministry.

(5)

The Minister may then—

(a)

make changes that the Minister considers appropriate to the proposal or decide to make no changes to it; or

(b)

withdraw all or part of the proposal and publish the withdrawal, and the reasons for it, on an Internet site maintained by or on behalf of the Ministry.

(6)

When the Minister has made appropriate changes to the proposal or decided to make no changes to it, the Minister must recommend the approval of the national policy direction to the Governor-General in Council.

(7)

The Governor-General in Council may approve the national policy direction.

(8)

As soon as practicable after the Governor-General in Council has approved the national policy direction, the Minister must—

(a)

publish in the Gazette the Order in Council approving the direction; and

(b)

publicly notify the direction in whatever form he or she thinks appropriate; and

(c)

send a copy of the direction to every management agency and regional council.

(9)

The national policy direction is a disallowable instrument, but not a legislative instrument, for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2012 and must be presented to the House of Representatives under section 41 of that Act.

Section 57: replaced, on 18 September 2012, by section 39 of the Biosecurity Law Reform Act 2012 (2012 No 73).

Section 57(8)(a): replaced, on 29 October 2019, by section 4 of the Legislation (Repeals and Amendments) Act 2019 (2019 No 59).

Section 57(9): replaced, on 1 February 2014, by section 77(3) of the Legislation Act 2012 (2012 No 119).