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Overseas Investment Act 2005

Consent and conditions regime - When consent required and criteria for consent - Criteria for consent

20: Exemptions from farm land offer criterion

You could also call this:

"Some overseas investors don't have to follow all the rules when buying New Zealand farm land"

When you want to invest in farm land in New Zealand from overseas, you usually have to meet certain criteria. The government can decide you do not have to meet one of these criteria if they think it is not necessary for your particular investment. They can also decide to exempt you or your investment if you belong to a certain group that they have already exempted.

The government can also exempt you from having to advertise the farm land on the open market. They can exempt you from other advertising requirements too. They will only grant an exemption if they think it is necessary and the exemption is not too broad.

When the government is deciding whether to grant an exemption, they must think about the purpose of the Overseas Investment Act. They can also think about any other factors that seem relevant to them. You can apply for an exemption at any time by sending a written notice to the regulator and paying the required fee.

If the government grants an exemption, it can have conditions attached to it. They must publish their reasons for granting the exemption. The exemption will only last for up to five years, and then it will be treated as if it has been revoked unless it is revoked or expires sooner. You can find more information about the rules for publishing exemptions in the Legislation Act 2019 and the Official Information Act 1982.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM358031.

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Part 2Consent and conditions regime
When consent required and criteria for consent: Criteria for consent

20Exemptions from farm land offer criterion

  1. Section 16(1)(f) does not apply to an overseas investment if—

  2. the relevant Ministers consider that the overseas investment need not meet this criterion by reason of the circumstances relating to the particular overseas investment or section 12 interest or the nature of the land to which the section 12 interest relates (for example, its productive capacity); or
    1. the overseas person making the overseas investment belongs to a class of overseas persons, or the overseas investment transaction belongs to a class of transactions, that is exempted from this criterion by the relevant Ministers.

      1. The relevant Ministers may also exempt a person or transaction from—

      2. the requirement that offers for acquisition must be on the open market:
        1. any other requirement in regulations about how farm land or section 12 interests must be advertised.

          1. The relevant Ministers may grant an exemption under this section only if those Ministers consider that—

          2. there are circumstances that mean that it is necessary, appropriate, or desirable to provide an exemption; and
            1. the extent of the exemption is not broader than is reasonably necessary to address those circumstances.

              1. In so considering, the relevant Ministers—

              2. must have regard to the purpose of this Act; and
                1. may have regard to any other factors that seem to those Ministers to be relevant to the circumstances.

                  1. An application for an exemption under this section may be made at any time by written notice to the regulator accompanied by the fee required by regulations.

                  2. An exemption under this section may be made subject to any conditions.

                  3. An exemption made under subsection (1)(b) is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

                  4. The reasons of the relevant Ministers for granting the exemption must be published with the exemption.

                  5. An exemption made under subsection (1)(a) or (2) must be published on an Internet site maintained by, or on behalf of, the regulator, together with the reasons of the relevant Ministers for granting the exemption.

                  6. However, publication under subsection (9) may be deferred or dispensed with (in whole or in part) if the relevant Ministers are satisfied on reasonable grounds that good reason for withholding the exemption or the reasons (as the case may be) would exist under the Official Information Act 1982, in which case the relevant Ministers must publish the reason for deferring or dispensing with publication and the grounds in support of that reason.

                  7. An exemption under this section may continue in force for not more than 5 years (and at the close of the date that is 5 years after the exemption first comes into force, the exemption must be treated as having been revoked unless it sooner is revoked or expires).

                  Notes
                  • Section 20: replaced, on , by section 11 of the Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 17).