Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990

Regulations, enforcement, and other matters - Direct access to information by government agencies

104: Direct access to information by government agencies

You could also call this:

"Government agencies can share information to enforce laws, with rules to keep it safe and private."

The government wants to help agencies work together to enforce the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and the Customs and Excise Act 2018. You can think of the Customs and Excise Act 2018 as a law that helps control what comes into New Zealand. The Director-General can let some government agencies access certain databases to help them do their job.

When the Director-General lets an agency access a database, they must make a written agreement that says what database the agency can access, what kind of information they can see, and why they need it. This agreement also says how the agency will access the information, how they will use it, and who can see it. The agreement must also talk about how the agency will keep the information safe, especially if it is personal or sensitive.

A government agency is a group that works for the government, like the police or a ministry. The Director-General and the agency's chief executive will decide who can access the database and what they can do with the information. They will also make sure the agency follows the rules and keeps the information safe.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS811098.


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Part 5Regulations, enforcement, and other matters
Direct access to information by government agencies

104Direct access to information by government agencies

  1. The purpose of this section is to facilitate access by a government agency to information stored in a database for the purpose of assisting the chief executive of that agency to administer and enforce this Act and the Customs and Excise Act 2018.

  2. The Director-General may, for the purposes of this section, allow the chief executive of the New Zealand Customs Service or any other government agency to access 1 or more databases in accordance with a written agreement entered into by the Director-General and the chief executive.

  3. A written agreement must specify—

  4. the database or databases that may be accessed; and
    1. the particular type or class of information that may be accessed; and
      1. the particular purpose or purposes for which the information is accessed; and
        1. the particular function being, or to be, carried out by the government agency for which the information is required; and
          1. the mechanism by which the information is to be accessed; and
            1. how the information accessed is to be used by the government agency to achieve the particular purpose or purposes; and
              1. the positions or designations of the persons in the government agency who may access the database or databases; and
                1. the records to be kept in relation to each occasion a database is accessed; and
                  1. the safeguards that are to be applied for protecting personal information, or commercially sensitive information, that is disclosed; and
                    1. the requirements relating to storage and disposal of information obtained by the agency from the database or databases; and
                      1. the circumstances (if any) in which the information may be disclosed by the government agency to another agency, and how that disclosure may be made; and
                        1. the requirements for reviewing the agreement.
                          1. In this section,—

                            chief executive of a government agency includes the Commissioner of Police

                              government agency means—

                              1. a public service agency (as defined in section 5 of the Public Service Act 2020), other than—
                                1. the Ministry; and
                                  1. the Government Communications Security Bureau; and
                                    1. the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service; and
                                      1. Statistics New Zealand:
                                      2. a Crown agent named in Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Crown Entities Act 2004:
                                        1. an independent Crown entity named in Part 3 of Schedule 1 of the Crown Entities Act 2004:
                                          1. the New Zealand Police:
                                            1. the New Zealand Defence Force.

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                                            Notes
                                            • Section 104: inserted, on , by section 55 of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022 (2022 No 79).