Tirikatene RinoRINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga): Thank you Madam Chair Tolley. I'm delighted to take a call on the Food Safety Law Reform Bill. I want to focus on the design aspects around the regulation-making powers and notices—the delegated legislation so to speak which is a core aspect of this bill. A bouquet is owing to the officials who have drafted this bill because effectively the actual real guts of everything that this amendment bill is wanting to do will be found in regulations and potentially in notices that will be made as well. This legislation clarifies the regulation-making power for all delegated legislation that sits under the three Acts that we're amending.I guess a best-practice model was followed around delegated legislation based around the Legislation Design and Advisory Committee guidelines and I think that's very important because there needs to be consistency. Yes we are having the power and authority of Parliament to pass primary legislation—you know it gets proper scrutiny as we're doing through the House. For regulation-type powers obviously that goes only through Order in Council by the Governor-General so it has less checks and balances I guess. Then further—I guess a step down from there—is the issuing of notices by the chief executive of the ministry. For instance in the Food Act it's the Ministry for Primary Industries. So there is a hierarchy of delegated legislation which is integral and central to this bill.I believe that the officials have pitched it right but what I would just like to have clarified—I guess an issue for me is that it is prescribed the situations where for instance a chief executive must issue a notice and it is prescribed around regulations and practically every second or third provision is all around regulations and/or notices. But for me I guess the concern is around the thresholds of what a chief executive is responsible for because indeed a chief executive can also delegate his or her powers to other officials within the ministry. So that's also a part of it.What we're doing though is we're taking away the scrutiny of Parliament we're taking away the ability to review and to give proper consideration and we're putting more power and authority into the hands of officials and bureaucrats. I think we must always be careful around how much power we are prepared to devolve to unelected bureaucrats who are discharging functions under the empowering legislation but I guess it's the subject matter that is crucial. So I would just urge Minister O'Connor through his officials to ensure that there is very thorough comprehensive consultation that is to take place with the industry—with all participants food companies who are impacted by this legislation—to ensure that those powers are set correctly to ensure that powers that are delegated are appropriate. That will give confidence to the food sector in general and to the New Zealand public in general that there are appropriate decision-making delegated powers at the right level for the appropriate decisions that have to be made under this legislation.But apart from that I do commend the officials for what they have done in drafting this legislation and I'm looking forward to it being implemented fully through the enactment of those regulations that will come into force in due course. Thank you.The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Papers 316 and 11 in the name of the Hon Damien O'Connor be agreed to.Amendments agreed to.Parts 1 to 4 Schedules 1 and 2 and clauses 1 and 2 as amended agreed to.Bill to be reported with amendment presently.