Food Act 2014

Provisions relating to recognition, territorial authorities, administration, and enforcement - Offences - Sentencing

269: Order to pay amount because of commercial gain

You could also call this:

"Paying a penalty for breaking food safety rules to make money"

If you break certain food safety rules, like those in sections 222 to 225, 228, 229, 230, 232, 233, and 238 to 244, the court can make you pay a penalty. The court can do this if they think you broke the rules to make money. You might have to pay up to three times the amount of money you made by breaking the rules.

If the court cannot work out how much money you made, and you are a company, you might have to pay up to 10% of your total turnover. The court will look at how much money you made and decide how much you should pay. You will have to pay the penalty like you would pay a fine.

The court uses special words like "interconnected" and "turnover" which have the same meaning as in the Commerce Act 1986. These words help the court understand your company's finances. The penalty is a way for the court to punish you for breaking the food safety rules.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on 5 June 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM2996390.

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Food and water safetyBusiness > Industry rules

268: Application of sections 269 to 273, or

"What happens if you break a food law: penalties and orders"

270: Order to pay expenses, or

"Paying for costs if you break a food safety rule"

Part 4Provisions relating to recognition, territorial authorities, administration, and enforcement
Offences: Sentencing

269Order to pay amount because of commercial gain

This section applies to a person convicted of an offence against any of sections 222 to 225, 228, 229, 230, 232, 233, and 238 to 244.
The court may make an order under subsection (3) or (4), if it is satisfied that the offence was committed in the course of producing a commercial gain.
The court may make an order under this subsection whether or not the person is a body corporate. The order is that the person pay an amount up to 3 times the value of the commercial gain resulting from committing the offence.
The court may make an order under this subsection if the person is a body corporate and the value of the gain cannot be readily ascertained. The order is that the person pay an amount up to 10% of the combined turnover of the body corporate and every interconnected body corporate it has over the period of the offending.
The court must assess the value of a gain that is readily ascertainable.
An amount that the court orders to be paid under this section is recoverable in the same manner as a fine.
In this section, interconnected and turnover have the same meanings as in the Commerce Act 1986.