Carter David: Biosecurity Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Carter David: Biosecurity Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6254] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (Minister for Biosecurity) 
: 
 I move  
That the Biosecurity Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Biosecurity Amendment Bill be considered by the Primary Production Committee that the committee present its final report on or before 12 October 2009 and that the committee have authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions and during any evening on a day in which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 187 and 190(1)(b) and (c). 
In late August the Prime Minister announced an agreement with the Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd to a joint action plan for streamlining trans-Tasman travel. The new approach will allow low-risk visitors who are travelling across the Tasman to New Zealand to move through processing more quickly but those who do not abide by the rules and who breach biosecurity requirements will face stiffer penalties. These proposals are consistent with the changes that the National Party signalled in its pre-election biosecurity policy. They included improving cooperation at the border between staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the New Zealand Customs Service ensuring passenger processing times are acceptable and increasing the instant fine for incorrect biosecurity declarations at the border. 
Many people will be aware that they risk an instant fine at the border if they break the law by failing to declare or dispose of goods such as fruit or meat products before entering the country. This bill raises the instant fine from $200 to $400. My fellow Ministers with responsibilities at the border will be making progress on other issues. Many of those will be behind the scenes and not visible to international travellers. These improvements are a key part of the joint agreement between the Governments of New Zealand and Australia to make it easier for citizens of both countries to cross the Tasman. We will be making these changes as visible as possible to everyone with conspicuous warnings at international airports. 
New Zealand is free of many of the serious pests and diseases that affect livestock and crops around the world. This is due to our relative isolation from the rest of the world and our strict biosecurity measures but now we are more connected to the rest of the world than ever before. Travel has never been quicker or easier. Each year we can expect the arrival of about 4 million passengers and over 20000 international flights. Every arrival brings with it the risk of an exotic disease. High-risk items brought into the country have the potential to severely harm our economy environment and social well-being. 
I want to say very clearly that we must do everything we can to keep that risk as low as we can. Despite our very best efforts some international travellers still do not declare that they are carrying risky items such as fruit or meat products when they enter the country. Over the last few years Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry border staff have found that roughly three out of every 1000 passengers have carried products such as those and have had to hand them in. The instant fine system was put in place to change people’s behaviour and encourage them to respect the very serious consequences that can follow if contaminated products are brought into New Zealand. By raising the fine to $400 we want to create a wider understanding of New Zealand’s need for strict biosecurity measures and we want to see a drop in the amount of risky goods that are brought in and have to be seized to prevent possible harm. 
This is a very short bill but I want to outline some further measures it contains. The instant fine will be raised but an alternative to the instant fine is processing through the court system. The bill also raises the maximum penalty for conviction in the courts for the same offence from $400 to $800. We think this more accurately underlines the importance of biosecurity. The bill also introduces some minor changes to make the instant fine system easier to administer and to allow more flexibility for the future. Besides the instant fine for failing to declare risky goods there is also an instant fine for not truthfully answering an inspector’s questions while in a biosecurity-control area such as an international airport. At the moment each instant fine has its own separate system and penalty. The bill sets out a standard format for instant fines and moves them out of the Act and into regulations. Should another instant fine be considered in the future it will be much easier to include it in the regulations rather than again change the Biosecurity Act. 
The bill covers offences that are suitable for an instant fine as a deterrent. It makes a distinction between offences committed at the border and those that happen elsewhere. The reason for that is to cater for international travellers who may be here for only a short stay. People issued with an instant fine have the option of paying it on the spot. Most instant fines give people 28 days to pay before a reminder notice is issued. If the fine remains unpaid after another 28 days court action can begin in order to recover the fine. But unlike the average parking fine the Biosecurity Act allows the fine to be entered into the court system for recovery after only 14 days in the case of an incorrect biosecurity declaration. The bill ensures that the special arrangement for a quick follow-up continues to apply only to border offences. In all other processing for instant fines the standard 28-day notice will apply. Because penalties are being moved out of the Act and into regulations it is vital for the Biosecurity Amendment Bill and its regulations to come into force together. So the bill provides for an Order in Council to make sure that the changes can take place at the same time. 
This bill marks an important step in improving biosecurity processing for international travellers into New Zealand. Trans-Tasman travel will be made faster and easier while improving our already world-leading biosecurity system. I commend the bill to the House.