Goudie Sandra: Standards and Conformance Bill — In Committee 
Goudie Sandra: Standards and Conformance Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:634;Page:5463] 
SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 I am delighted to be speaking to the Standards and Conformance Bill and to the title even more so when I know that we are opposing it. One of the things I wanted to do was to see why these changes were being made and why we were going down this path with this bill which makes changes to various pieces of legislation. I could find only one reason—it is stated in the explanatory note that international practice is that only one body in any country has the function of registering certification bodies. I would have thought the system we had was fine. I did not see any reason for the change and I still do not. Perhaps the Minister in the chair the Hon Lianne Dalziel might like to take a call and give us an explanation but I will not hold my breath. 
I was interested to look at what the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand—JAS-ANZ—is required to do particularly when it is meant to be a not-for-profit organisation yet is making $773000-odd before tax. What does that not-for-profit organisation do? It is about strengthening trade. It is to be the joint accreditation body for Australia and New Zealand to develop mutual recognition in overseas markets for Australian and New Zealand producers exports and personnel. I thought that was a bit strange when I thought about our apple exports. I think Craig Foss would be interested in that. If he has a little look at the objectives of the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand he will wonder why on earth we cannot get our apples to Australia and he will see what those guys are doing. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: Ha ha! 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: Well it is all part of free trade. Do they or do they not meet the standards? Can it not do something in this regard? This is meant to be about trade. 
I would also like to take on the points made by Barbara Stewart. She said that this is a voluntary situation. It may be a voluntary situation but if people want accreditation for international trade they are caught between a rock and a hard place and they do not have much of a choice if that is to be the process by which they can improve their market access. With a captured clientele the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand can screw the cost and from the concerns raised by submitters it seems that that is exactly what it is intending to do. 
If we look at the submissions from Telarc and from Health and Disability Auditing New Zealand Ltd we can see quite clearly that they have major concerns about the increases in costs. They have set out those cost increases quite clearly to the Minister and the select committee and one has to wonder why those concerns have not been addressed. If we look at the explanatory note in relation to the compliance cost report we can see quite clearly that the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand itself acknowledges that there will be some confusion amongst organisations wanting accreditation and some confusion about what is to be complied with what the procedures are and what has to be done to meet its new certification. 
Perhaps the Minister would like to take a call and explain the situation around compliance costs and how she can justify increased costs—to a degree of 10 times the original—which is what has been mooted by submitters. These submitters have some expertise in this field and it is to be hoped that the Minister has taken some cognisance of the substantial outline of fees that will be imposed. I draw her attention to the outline of fees by Health and Disability Auditing New Zealand. It has shown in summary that a 3-year certification period will cost $155000 compared with the $18000 it used to be through International Accreditation New Zealand. That is a huge difference in cost—$155000 as opposed to $18000. Could the Minister please take a call and give us an explanation about the difference in those costs and why she is condoning a compliance cost that will be incurred to that degree by all participants. The Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand is supposed to be a not-for-profit organisation. It is supposed to be there to assist not only consumers but also businesses. I cannot see businesses being assisted by compliance costs to that degree. So could the Minister please take a call.