The Regulations Review Committee has examined the Secondary Legislation Confirmation Bill and recommends that it be passed. We recommend all amendments unanimously.

The purpose of this bill is to confirm certain secondary legislation that would be revoked if not confirmed by an Act of Parliament by a specified date. The bill relates to secondary legislation made between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.

In passing this bill, the House would confirm the instruments set out in the bill, allowing them to continue in force.

As part of our consideration of the bill, we have examined its consistency with principles of legislative quality. We have no issues regarding the legislation’s design to bring to the attention of the House.

As introduced, the bill includes 12 instruments for confirmation. (Below, we propose adding one further instrument.)

Matters covered in the instruments include:

• increasing the annual industry levy for agricultural compounds and veterinary medicines, and adjusting the fees and charges for services provided by the Ministry for Primary Industries

• imposing levies for agricultural commodities, including arable crops, cereal silage, kiwifruit, and maize

• adjusting the excise and excise-equivalent duties on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products

• establishing a new levy on food importers and food businesses, with exemptions made by the chief executive of the Ministry for Primary Industries

• increasing social security benefits and allowances, asset limits, and superannuation entitlements

• amending Part II of the New Zealand Tariff to clarify and revise the scope of when duty-free entry is available to certain passenger goods and household effects.

We asked the government departments responsible for administering the instruments to explain why each instrument should be confirmed. We wrote to chief executives of the following departments:

• Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

• Ministry for Primary Industries

• Ministry of Social Development

• New Zealand Customs Service.

After considering the responses, we found no reason why the orders and regulations should not be confirmed. We thank the departments for their responses and their cooperation with our processes for the bill.

We recommend amending clause 12 of the bill to also include the Tariff (Specified Tobacco Products) Amendment Order 2024.

Due to an oversight, this order was not included in the bill as introduced. The order states that it was made under section 10 of the Tariff Act 1988. However, it was actually made under section 9 of the Act which means that the order is a confirmable instrument that would be revoked if not confirmed before 30 June 2025.

The amendment order provides for a more granular classification of certain heated tobacco products in the Tariff Act 1988. The amendment order does not alter duties under the Act.