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Customs and Excise Act 2018

Administrative provisions - Disclosure of information - Disclosure to government agencies

310: Information matching for purpose of fines enforcement

You could also call this:

"Helping to collect unpaid fines by sharing information"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

The government wants to help collect fines from people who have not paid them. You might be in serious default if you owe a lot of money for a fine. The Customs and the department will share information to help find people who have not paid their fines.

If you are in serious default, the department can give Customs some information about you. Customs can then use this information to find out more about you. They can share this information with the department to help them collect the fine.

The Customs and the department will decide how often they share information and how they do it. They can only share information if they have an agreement to do so, like an information matching agreement under Part 10 of the Privacy Act 1993 or an approved information sharing agreement under subpart 1 of Part 7 of the Privacy Act 2020.

The department and Customs have to follow the rules when sharing information. They have to make sure they are sharing the right information and that it is accurate. You are in serious default if you owe a lot of money for a fine and the police have a warrant to arrest you.

The government can change the amount of money that is considered a serious default. They can do this by making a new law, which is called secondary legislation.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039718.

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Part 5Administrative provisions
Disclosure of information: Disclosure to government agencies

310Information matching for purpose of fines enforcement

  1. The purpose of this section is to facilitate the exchange of information between Customs and the department for the purpose of assisting the chief executive of the department to—

  2. locate any person who is in serious default in the payment of any fine; and
    1. take appropriate fines enforcement action against that person.

      1. For the purpose of this section, an authorised officer may supply to the chief executive of Customs any identifying information about a person who is in serious default.

      2. If, in relation to a person who is in serious default, identifying information is supplied in accordance with subsection (2), the chief executive of Customs may compare that information with any information held by Customs that relates to that person.

      3. If Customs has information relating to a person who is in serious default, the chief executive of Customs may, for the purpose of this section, supply to an authorised officer any arrival and departure information relating to that person that is held by Customs.

      4. The chief executive of Customs and the chief executive of the department may, for the purpose of this section, determine by agreement between them—

      5. the frequency with which information may be supplied; and
        1. the form in which information may be supplied; and
          1. the method by which information may be supplied.

            1. On or after 1 December 2020, no information may be supplied under this section except under—

            2. an information matching agreement entered into under Part 10 of the Privacy Act 1993 and continued by clause 11 of Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 2020; or
              1. an approved information sharing agreement entered into under subpart 1 of Part 7 of the Privacy Act 2020.

                1. In this section,—

                  authorised officer—

                  1. means any officer, employee, or agent of the department who is authorised by the chief executive of the department to supply information to, or receive information from, the chief executive of Customs under this section; and
                    1. includes a constable

                      department means the Ministry of Justice or any other department of State that, with the authority of the Prime Minister, is for the time being responsible for the enforcement of fines

                        fine means—

                        1. a fine (as that term is defined in section 79(1) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957):
                          1. a fine to which section 19 of the Crimes Act 1961 applies:
                            1. a fine to which section 43 or 45 of the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 1978 applies:
                              1. any amount payable under section 138A(1) of the Sentencing Act 2002

                                fines enforcement action includes the execution of a warrant to arrest a person in respect of the non-payment of the whole, or of any part, of any fine

                                  serious default, in relation to a person, means that—

                                  1. the person owes—
                                    1. an amount of $1,000 (or any other amount not exceeding $5,000 that may be fixed by the Governor-General by Order in Council (see subsection (7))) or more in relation to 1 or more unpaid fines (other than an amount of reparation); or
                                      1. any amount of reparation; and
                                      2. a warrant to arrest the person has been issued in respect of the non-payment of the whole, or of any part, of any amount referred to in paragraph (a); and
                                        1. the warrant has not been withdrawn or executed.

                                        2. An order under paragraph (a)(i) of the definition of serious default in subsection (6) is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

                                        Compare
                                        Notes
                                        • Section 310(5A): inserted, on , by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
                                        • Section 310(6) serious default paragraph (a)(i): amended, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
                                        • Section 310(7): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).