Ririnui Mita: Customs and Excise (Sustainable Forestry) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Ririnui Mita: Customs and Excise (Sustainable Forestry) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 18 November 2009. Volume:659;Page:7802. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Labour) 
: 
 Let me start by congratulating the Green member Catherine Delahunty on bringing the Customs and Excise (Sustainable Forestry) Amendment Bill and its associated issues of illegal logging and associated trade to the attention of this House. The Labour Opposition will support the first reading of this bill. We are adamant that an issue like this should be discussed widely by a select committee and to that end we will be supporting it. 
I am not surprised at National’s position on this bill but I am stunned—flabbergasted actually—at the comments from the member who has just resumed his seat Shane Ardern. He presented some bizarre examples to the House in terms of Catherine Delahunty’s reference to internal matters. He referred to the Hauraki Plains and said that had there not been any development in that area it would have had an economic impact on that area. The bill that Catherine Delahunty introduced will not turn back the clock. If it could we might as well say that if it had not been for a meteor coming out of space and hitting the Earth we would still be talking to Jurassic creatures or dinosaurs. It is a bizarre example of what this bill is intended to do. 
I understand that the purpose of this bill is to make amendments to the Customs and Excise Act 1996 to prohibit the import into New Zealand of timber and wood products produced illegally and unsustainably. This is consistent with the position taken by the previous Labour-led Government in 2006 2007 and 2008. That position is still held by the Labour Opposition in 2009. 
The key elements of the Customs and Excise (Sustainable Forestry) Amendment Bill are outlined in the explanatory note and the clause by clause analysis at the beginning of the bill. In particular two key clauses set out how the legislation would ensure that all wood products imported into New Zealand are sourced from sustainably managed forests. Clause 5 inserts two new sections into the Act. New section 54A makes it unlawful to import into New Zealand timber and wood products not certified under a new schedule 11. That is a very important matter for this House to consider and I hope that the select committee considers it very seriously. 
New section 54B provides that the Minister may add or omit certification schemes from the list in schedule 11. It also provides for the matters that the Minister must have regard to when making a recommendation by Order in Council for changes to schedule 11. 
This bill will be properly scrutinised by this House and carefully considered by the select committee. Should any Minister in the future decide that changes to schedule 11 are necessary then that particular Minister will have to undertake a thorough process before any changes can happen. 
Of course there are potential benefits in this bill to this country. For example it will confirm New Zealand’s position in terms of reinforcing the message that New Zealand will not support illegal logging that New Zealand supports producers and suppliers who are legally and sustainably producing wood products and the list just goes on. There are some practical difficulties and if I have time I will touch on those. But to continue with the potential benefits the bill provides exporters with the opportunity to have legal conformance labelling on exported wood products. It also provides a less resource-intensive type of regulatory approach because the point of intervention rests with the supplier. The industry has a stake in ensuring that it all works and that a system of regulation may occur. 
The bill also offers flexibility in terms of the implementation of the sustainable timber documentation approach and it allows changes to the regulations to be gazetted relatively easily. It is a very straightforward process. I do not see any reason why National members would have difficulty with these compliance requirements. 
In particular the bill does not discriminate against the country of origin. Often it is the case that the country of origin is not necessarily aware of illegal logging activities—and many countries deny that they are aware—but under this bill a country will not be discriminated against in any way shape or form whatsoever. 
The bill also reduces the likelihood that suppliers that are already verifying the legality of wood products will be undermined by other suppliers selling cheaper wood products that cannot be verified as being legally sourced. As members will understand the Labour Opposition is keen to support this bill’s referral to a select committee.