Fair Trading Act 1986

Miscellaneous provisions

47L: Powers of authorised employees

You could also call this:

"What authorised employees can do to check businesses are following the rules"

Illustration for Fair Trading Act 1986

You can think of a place as anywhere you can buy things or get services. An authorised employee can enter and inspect this place to check if it follows the rules. They can do this without a warrant if it's not a home. You might wonder what an authorised employee can do when they inspect a place. They can look at goods, take photos, and even buy them to check if they are safe. They can also ask the person in charge for their name and identification. The authorised employee can ask for information about the goods or services. They can ask who supplied the goods and who they were sold to. They can also give an infringement notice if the rules are not being followed. If the authorised employee needs to enter a home, they need a warrant or permission from the owner. A warrant is like a special permission slip from a court. The authorised employee must follow certain rules when applying for a warrant, which are outlined in the Search and Surveillance Act 2012, you can read more about this in section 3 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012 and subpart 3 of Part 4 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM5838542.

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Part 6Miscellaneous provisions

47LPowers of authorised employees

  1. In this section,—

    place means any place that an authorised employee believes on reasonable grounds is a place at which consumers have access to relevant goods or services, or from which relevant goods are dispatched to consumers

      relevant goods or services means goods or services to which any consumer information standards, product safety standards, unsafe goods notices, suspension of supply notices, or services safety standards apply.

      1. An authorised employee may enter and inspect a place (not being a dwellinghouse), without a warrant, for the purpose of monitoring or enforcing compliance with any consumer information standards, product safety standards, unsafe goods notices, suspension of supply notices, or services safety standards that apply to any relevant goods.

      2. While at the place, an authorised employee may, for the purpose described in subsection (2), do any of the following:

      3. with respect to any goods at the place that are available to consumers for supply or that are dispatched for supply, inspect the goods, photograph them, and purchase them at the price for which they are currently offered for sale:
        1. require the person at the place who appears to be in charge of the supply or dispatch of relevant goods or services at the time (the person in charge) to give his or her name and show to the authorised employee identification sufficient to confirm that the name given is correct:
          1. require the person in charge to give the authorised employee any information about the goods or services that is normally disclosed to a consumer to whom the goods or services are supplied or dispatched:
            1. require the person in charge to identify the person from whom relevant goods were acquired:
              1. if relevant goods have, within a specified period, been supplied in trade to another person other than by retail, require the person in charge to identify the person or persons to whom they have been supplied during that period:
                1. require any person by whom any relevant goods are carried for delivery pursuant to, or in connection with, a contract for sale, to give—
                  1. his or her name and address; and
                    1. the name and address of his or her employer (if any); and
                      1. the name and address of the owner of the goods, if known:
                      2. issue an infringement notice, on behalf of the Commission, under section 40D.
                        1. If an authorised employee enters a dwellinghouse with the permission of the occupier or under a warrant issued under subsection (5), the authorised employee may, for the purpose described in subsection (2), exercise the powers listed in subsection (3).

                        2. An issuing officer (within the meaning of section 3 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012) may, by warrant, authorise an authorised employee to enter and inspect a dwellinghouse or any other place specified in the warrant if the issuing officer is satisfied, on application made in accordance with subsection (6), that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a search of the place is necessary for the purpose described in subsection (2).

                        3. The application for a warrant must be made in writing in the manner provided for an application for a search warrant in subpart 3 of Part 4 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.

                        4. Part 4 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012 (except sections 118 and 119) applies.

                        Notes
                        • Section 47L: inserted, on , by section 39 of the Fair Trading Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 143).