McClay ToddFORESTS (LOG TRADERS AND FORESTRY ADVISERS REPEAL) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon TODD McCLAY (Minister of Forestry): I present a legislative statement on the Forests (Log Traders and Forestry Advisers Repeal) Amendment Bill.SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the parliamentary website.Hon TODD McCLAY: I move That the Forests (Log Traders and Forestry Advisers Repeal) Amendment Bill be now read a second time.It's my privilege to bring this bill to the House. This bill supports the Government's goal of getting New Zealand back on track through removing unwanted regulatory burden and making it easier for people to just get on with running their businesses.The Forests (Log Traders and Forestry Advisers Repeal) Amendment Bill will ensure that the sector is not bogged down with unnecessary red tape. Forestry including wood processing is the country's fourth largest exporter. Over the past few years forestry has been hit by a perfect storm of falling sales to China extreme weather a collapse in carbon prices and a weak economy and further regulatory burden. Passing these amendments into law as fast as possible has been an early policy priority for the forestry portfolio. A mandatory registration system for log traders and forestry advisers adds unnecessary compliance costs on to forest operators has no purpose and delivers no meaningful improvement in outcomes. Progressing this bill is one part of a wider forestry work programme that will restore confidence and certainty to forestry support further investment and contribute towards rebuilding the economy and getting it working for all New Zealanders.The bill that originally brought in the registration system in 2020 has not achieved its intended outcome. These changes were brought in at a time when there was a perceived need to ensure greater professionalism and give more transparency to support equitable trading of logs however requiring a mandatory registration system is no longer needed and has only added cost to the sector.The New Zealand Institute of Forestry operates a voluntary system of registration for individuals providing forestry services. This voluntary system enables a professional industry standard without the need for regulation and I consider this to be a good pathway for forestry advisers to be registered. The bill acknowledges the extensive work of the industry to create best practice guides and to update practices where knowledge evolves. There are some key parts to the bill that I want to draw the House's attention to: firstly the removal of the mandatory registration system or reporting requirements that have been put on our forestry sector. This removal of the system and associated fees and levies means the sector will be able to keep more of their hard-earned money driving growth into forestry and wood processing. I'm also proposing through the bill to refund all fees and levies that were paid by log traders and forestry advisers to the Ministry for Primary Industries to become registered. Registered log traders and forestry advisers gain nothing from the system and I want to signal that this Government values the work they do and that we trust them to continue driving investment in growth in the forestry and wood processing sector.As for the legal harvest assurance scheme this has full Government support. This system will provide market assurance and signals to the world that New Zealand supports setting international standards for timber legality. This legislation aligns with our ambitions of doubling export value in the forestry sector over the next decade. The legal harvest legislation was passed just a year ago but will only commence once it has been enabled through secondary legislation given that it relies on the definition of a log trader located in the part of the Act proposed to be repealed. I have made a technical change in the bill before us to ensure that the requirement to register for legal harvest is retained. It's essential that the development of the legal harvest assurance scheme is fit for purpose and does not add unnecessary compliance costs to forestry businesses. To ensure this and that the system meets market access requirement full engagement with the sector and trading partners is needed. I'm therefore proposing in the bill that the commencement date for the legal harvest assurance system be amended to August 2027. Whilst the system is being implemented I'll ensure that the export of wood products to markets is supported through existing interim solutions and I anticipate that these solutions will remain acceptable to the markets they have been negotiated with throughout this time. Amending this commencement date also does not prevent the system from being brought into effect sooner by Order in Council.This is only a small bill in the context of the House and I've touched on the key components. However for the forestry sector this bill will be important for bringing back autonomy to those providing essential services for the forestry sector as well as having important cost savings for forest businesses. As I've said this is only the beginning of a wider forestry work programme that will boost sector confidence and continue to grow investment in the forestry and wood processing sector.Can I thank my colleagues in the coalition Government from New Zealand First and ACT for their support and also the Labour Party for working with us to ensure that we're able to bring this into place as quickly as possible so that more people don't need to register on 1 July this year. I commend this bill to the House. SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.