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Biosecurity Act 1993

Pest management

55: Responsible Minister may assign responsibility for decisions

You could also call this:

"The Minister can choose who decides how to stop harmful organisms from spreading."

The responsible Minister can choose who makes decisions about how to deal with harmful organisms or pathways. You need to know that the Minister must follow a process set out in regulations when assigning this responsibility. The Minister can assign this task to a department or regional council.

If the Minister assigns the task to a department or regional council, the Minister can set a time limit for the decision to be made. The Minister can also extend this time limit if they think there are good reasons to do so. The department or regional council must then make the decision within the given time or the extended time.

The rules about how the Minister assigns responsibility are set out in the Biosecurity Act 1993, which was amended by the Biosecurity Law Reform Act 2012. You can find more information about this in the regulations. The Minister's decisions about assigning responsibility are an important part of managing biosecurity in New Zealand.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM315370.

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54: Purpose of this Part, or

"Protecting New Zealand from harmful organisms and their effects"

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56: Responsible Minister provides leadership through national policy direction, or

"The Minister makes a plan to help keep New Zealand safe from pests and diseases."

Part 5Pest management

55Responsible Minister may assign responsibility for decisions

  1. The responsible Minister may assign responsibility for a decision on the appropriate response to an issue relating to a harmful organism or pathway.

  2. The process for the Minister to assign responsibility must be set out in regulations.

  3. If the Minister assigns responsibility to a department or regional council,—

  4. the Minister may specify a time within which the decision must be made; and
    1. the Minister may extend the time if the Minister considers that exceptional circumstances exist justifying the extension; and
      1. the department or regional council must make the decision within the time or extended time.

        Notes
        • Section 55: replaced, on , by section 39 of the Biosecurity Law Reform Act 2012 (2012 No 73).