Food Act 2014

Provisions relating to recognition, territorial authorities, administration, and enforcement - Recognised agencies, persons, and classes of persons - Suspension of recognition

158: Suspension of recognition of recognised agency, etc

You could also call this:

"Stopping a food safety job if the rules are broken"

The chief executive can stop or limit a recognised agency, person, or group from doing their job if they think the agency, person, or group is not doing their job properly. This can happen if the agency, person, or group is not meeting the requirements they agreed to, or if they are not following the rules of the Food Act 2014, such as those outlined in sections 135, 136, and 139 to 141. You can be stopped from doing your job if you do not pay your fees on time, or if you break the rules, such as those in section 155 or 156.

The chief executive can stop you from doing your job for up to 3 months. During this time, the chief executive can tell you what you need to do to start working again, or they can ask you to fix the problems that caused the stoppage.

The chief executive has the power to decide what conditions you must meet before you can start working again, and they can also ask you to take action to fix the problems that led to the stoppage.

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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=DLM6087054.

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Food and water safetyBusiness > Industry rules

157A: Recognised agency and recognised person accountable to chief executive, or

"Agencies and people helping with food safety must report to the boss and follow the rules."

159: Chief executive may extend suspension, or

"The boss of food safety can make a time-out longer if rules are not followed."

Part 4Provisions relating to recognition, territorial authorities, administration, and enforcement
Recognised agencies, persons, and classes of persons: Suspension of recognition

158Suspension of recognition of recognised agency, etc

The chief executive may suspend all or part of the recognition of a recognised agency, recognised person, or recognised class if the chief executive has reasonable grounds to believe that—
the performance of the agency, person, or a significant proportion of the members of the class is unsatisfactory, taking into account the requirements of the recognition; or
the agency, person, or a significant proportion of the members of the class no longer meets 1 or more of the criteria on which that agency, person, or class was recognised under whichever of sections 135, 136, and 139 to 141 applies; or
the agency, person, or a significant proportion of the members of the class has failed to comply with section 155 or 156 or any other applicable requirements of this Act, and that failure causes the chief executive to question the ability of the agency, person, or class to carry out the specified functions or activities of the agency, person, or class; or
for an agency or a person, the agency or person has failed to pay an ongoing recognition fee, charge, or levy within 30 days after the date on which it was due and payable.

The maximum period of suspension under this section is 3 months.
The chief executive may do either or both of the following:
impose conditions that must be satisfied before the suspension is lifted:
require a suspended agency, person, or class to take appropriate corrective action to remedy the deficiency or failure that resulted in the suspension.