Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012

Reprint as at 12 December 2012 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 (SR 2012/186) Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias, Administrator of the Government Order in Council At Wellington this 23rd day of July 2012 Present: Her Excellency the Administrator of the Government in Council Pursuant to section 4 of the Commodity Levies Act 1990, Her Excel lency the Administrator of the Government, acting on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council and on the recommenda tion of the Minister for Primary Industries given in accordance with sections 5 and 6 of that Act, makes the following order. Contents Page 1 Title 3 2 Commencement 3 Note Changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in this reprint. A general outline of these changes is set out in the notes at the end of this reprint, together with other explanatory material about this reprint. This order is administered by the Ministry for Primary Industries. 1 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM227326 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM227327 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM227329 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM195466 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 3 Interpretation 3 Levy imposed 4 Levy imposed 4 Payment of levy 5 Growers responsible for paying levy 4 Rate of levy 6 Calculation of levy 4 7 Levy to be paid at single rate 5 8 Maximum rate of levy 5 9 Minimum levy payment 5 10 Fixing of levy rate 5 11 Notification of rate of levy 5 When levy payable 12 When levy payable 5 13 Penalty for late payment 6 Expenditure of levy money 14 Council must spend levy money 6 15 Purposes for which levy money may be spent 6 16 Consultation on spending levy money 6 Record-keeping requirements and confidentiality of information 17 Records 7 18 Confidentiality of information 8 Miscellaneous 19 Returns 8 20 Conscientious objectors 9 21 Remuneration of persons conducting compliance audits 9 Mediation of disputes 22 Appointment of mediators 9 23 Remuneration of mediators 10 24 Conferences under control of mediator 10 25 Conference to be held in private 10 26 Representatives 10 27 Right to be heard 10 28 Evidence 11 29 Mediator may resolve dispute in certain cases 11 30 Costs of mediation 11 2 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 cl 3 31 Appeal to District Court 11 32 Revocation 12 Order 1 Title This order is the Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012. 2 Commencement This order comes into force on 1 September 2012. Order: confirmed, on 12 December 2012, by section 8(g) of the Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Act 2012 (2012 No 97). 3 Interpretation In this order, unless the context otherwise requires,— Act means the Commodity Levies Act 1990 asparagus means spears of the species Asparagus officinalis or of any plant that is a hybrid of that species commercial asparagus grower, in relation to a levy year, means the occupier of land totalling 500 m2 or more that, as at 30 June in a levy year, is planted with asparagus for com mercial purposes Council means the industry organisation that, on the com mencement of this order, was known as the New Zealand As paragus Council Incorporated GST means goods and services tax payable under the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 levy means the levy imposed by clause 4 levy money means money paid or payable under this order as levy levy year means,— (a) for the first levy year, the period beginning on the com mencement of this order and ending on 31 March 2013; and (b) for each later levy year, a period of 12months beginning on 1April and ending on 31March in the following year 3 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM4691716 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM226673 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM81034 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM81034 cl 4 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 mediator means— (a) a person appointed under clause 22(2); and (b) for a particular dispute, a mediator appointed to resolve the dispute NZGROWER means the publication published under that name before the commencement of this order. Levy imposed 4 Levy imposed (1) A levy is imposed on all asparagus planted in New Zealand by commercial asparagus growers. (2) The levy is payable to the Council. Payment of levy 5 Growers responsible for paying levy Commercial asparagus growers are primarily responsible for paying the levy. Rate of levy 6 Calculation of levy (1) The amount of levy payable by a commercial asparagus grower in a levy year is the amount calculated in accordance with the following formula: a × r where— a is the area of land in hectares (expressed to 2 decimal places in the case of any part hectare) occupied by the commercial asparagus grower and planted with aspara gus,— (a) in relation to the first levy year, as at the com mencement of this order: (b) in relation to any later levy year, as at 30 June in that levy year r is the rate of levy for the levy year fixed by or in accord ance with clause 10. (2) Subclause (1) is subject to clause 10. 4 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 cl 12 7 Levy to be paid at single rate The levy is to be paid at a single rate. 8 Maximum rate of levy The maximum rate of the levy is $200 per hectare of asparagus (excluding GST). 9 Minimum levy payment The minimum levy payment is the amount (excluding GST) that would be calculated under clause 6 on 1 hectare of as paragus. 10 Fixing of levy rate (1) For the first levy year, the levy rate is $100 per hectare of asparagus (excluding GST). (2) For each later levy year, the Council must fix the levy rate at— (a) its annual general meeting in that levy year; or (b) any special general meeting called for the purpose and held at the beginning of the levy year. (3) If the Council does not fix the levy rate for any later levy year under subclause (2), the levy rate for that year is the rate most recently fixed under this clause. 11 Notification of rate of levy As soon as practicable after fixing the levy rate for a levy year, the Council must notify the rate— (a) in NZGROWER; or (b) if NZGROWER ceases to be published, in any publica tion that replaces it; or (c) if NZGROWER ceases to be published and no publica tion replaces it, in a publication specified for the pur poses of this order by the Minister for Primary Indus tries by notice in the Gazette. When levy payable 12 When levy payable (1) The levy is an annual levy and is payable for each levy year. 5 cl 13 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 (2) The due date for payment of the levy is 30 November in the levy year. (3) The latest date for payment of the levy is 28 February in the levy year. 13 Penalty for late payment If a levy has not been paid on or before the latest date for payment under clause 12(3), the commercial asparagus grower must pay to the Council an increased levy comprising— (a) the amount of the levy outstanding as at the latest date for payment; plus (b) 10% of that amount. Expenditure of levy money 14 Council must spend levy money The Council must— (a) spend all the levy money paid to it; and (b) invest all levy money until it is spent. 15 Purposes for which levy money may be spent (1) The Council may spend levy money for all or any of the fol lowing purposes relating to asparagus: (a) product research and development: (b) market research and development: (c) promotion of asparagus: (d) quality assurance: (e) biosecurity: (f) education: (g) day-to-day administration of the Council. (2) The Council must not spend any levies on commercial or trad ing activities. 16 Consultation on spending levy money (1) The Council must consult commercial asparagus growers on how it proposes to spend levy money and provide details of the previous 12 months’ expenditure of levy money— (a) at every annual general meeting of the Council; and 6 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 cl 17 (b) at any special meeting of the Council called for the pur pose. (2) For the purposes of subclause (1), the Council must, at the meeting,— (a) present a budget for the proposed expenditure of levy money to be collected in the following levy year; and (b) present accounts relating to the expenditure of levy money collected in the previous levy year; and (c) allow reasonable time at the meeting for commercial as paragus growers to discuss expenditure of levy money. Record-keeping requirements and confidentiality of information 17 Records (1) A commercial asparagus growermust, for each levy year, keep records of— (a) the area of land occupied by the commercial asparagus grower and planted in asparagus: (b) the amount of levy paid: (c) the name of the entity that paid the levy. (2) The Council must, for each levy year, keep records of— (a) the amount of each levy paid to it in that year and, in relation to each amount,— (i) the date on which it was received; and (ii) the name of the entity that paid it; and (iii) the area of land to which the levy relates: (b) how (if at all) levy money paid to it in that year was invested: (c) how and when levy money paid to it was spent. (3) The records required by this clause must be retained for at least 2 years after the end of the levy year to which the records relate. (4) This clause does not require a commercial asparagus grower or the Council to keep a nil record. 7 cl 18 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 18 Confidentiality of information (1) No officer or employee of the Council may disclose (other than to some other person who is an officer or employee of the Council) any information obtained— (a) under or because of this order; or (b) under the Act in relation to this order. (2) Subclause (1) does not affect or prevent— (a) the production of records or accounts under section 17(1) of the Act; or (b) the production of any statement under section 25 of the Act; or (c) the giving of evidence in any legal proceedings taken— (i) under or in relation to this order; or (ii) under the Act in relation to this order. (3) Subclause (1) does not prevent the Council from disclosing or using any information— (a) (not being information relating to an identifiable per son) obtained from a ballot held before the commence ment of this order; or (b) (not being information relating to an identifiable per son) for statistical and research purposes; or (c) for the purpose of collecting levies; or (d) for the purpose of determining the voting entitlements, and the counting of votes, of members of the Council; or (e) with the consent of every identifiable person to whom the information relates. Miscellaneous 19 Returns (1) For the purpose of calculating the levy payable by a commer cial asparagus grower in a levy year, a commercial asparagus grower must provide the Council with a written return of the information specified in subclause (2) requested in writing by the Council. (2) The information is the area of land in hectares (expressed to 2 decimal places in the case of any part hectare) occupied by the commercial asparagus grower and planted with asparagus,— 8 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM227345 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM227345 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM227355 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 cl 22 (a) in the case of the first levy year, as at the commencement of this order: (b) in the case of any later levy year, as at 30 June in that levy year. (3) The commercial asparagus grower must provide the return to the Council as soon as is reasonably practicable after receiving the request from the Council but no later than the latest date for payment of the levy specified in clause 12(3). 20 Conscientious objectors (1) A commercial asparagus grower who objects on conscien tious or religious grounds to the payment to the Council of an amount of levy money may pay the amount concerned to the Director-General of the Ministry for Primary Industries. (2) The Director-General must pay the amount to the Council. 21 Remuneration of persons conducting compliance audits A person appointed as an auditor under section 15 of the Com modity Levies Act 1990 must be remunerated by the Coun cil at a rate determined by the Minister for Primary Industries after consultation with the Council. Mediation of disputes 22 Appointment of mediators (1) This clause applies to any dispute concerning— (a) whether a person is required to pay a levy; or (b) the amount of levy money payable. (2) A party to the dispute may ask the President of the Arbitra tors and Mediators Institute of New Zealand Incorporated to appoint a person to resolve the dispute by mediation. (3) If asked, the President, or a person authorised by the President, may appoint a person to resolve the dispute by mediation. (4) The mediator’s appointment ends when— (a) the parties resolve the dispute by agreement; or (b) the mediator resolves the dispute under clause 29. 9 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM227341 cl 23 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 23 Remuneration of mediators (1) A mediator must be paid the remuneration (by way of fees and allowances) agreed to by the parties to the dispute. (2) If the parties cannot agree on a mediator’s remuneration, the President of the Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of New Zealand Incorporated, or a person authorised by the President, must— (a) fix an amount or several amounts to be paid to the me diator as remuneration; or (b) specify the amount (if any) that each party must pay. (3) Each party must pay to the mediator the amount or amounts fixed and specified under subclause (2). 24 Conferences under control of mediator A mediator must— (a) organise the date, time, and place for each conference to be held by the mediator; and (b) notify the parties of the matters specified in paragraph (a) by post or email; and (c) preside at the conference. 25 Conference to be held in private Subject to clause 26, only the parties to a dispute and the me diator may attend a conference organised by the mediator. 26 Representatives Amediatormay allow a representative of any party to a dispute to attend a conference, if satisfied that it is appropriate to do so in all the circumstances. 27 Right to be heard The following persons may be heard at a conference with a mediator: (a) each party to the dispute; and (b) each representative of a party allowed by the mediator to attend the conference. 10 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 cl 31 28 Evidence (1) A mediator may hear and take into account any relevant evi dence or information, whether or not it would be admissible in a court of law. (2) A mediator may, on the mediator’s own initiative,— (a) seek and receive any evidence that the mediator thinks desirable to resolve the dispute; and (b) make any investigations and inquiries that the mediator thinks desirable to resolve the dispute. (3) A mediator may require any person giving evidence at a con ference of the parties to a dispute to verify the evidence by statutory declaration. 29 Mediator may resolve dispute in certain cases (1) A mediator may resolve a dispute for the parties if— (a) the mediator has organised and presided at a conference of the parties, but the dispute has not been resolved; or (b) the mediator believes that the parties are unlikely to re solve the dispute, whether or not they confer directly. (2) A mediator who resolves a dispute under subclause (1) must give each of the parties written notice of the mediator’s deci sion and the reasons for that decision. (3) The parties must comply with the mediator’s decision. 30 Costs of mediation Each party to the dispute must pay its own costs in relation to the mediation. 31 Appeal to District Court (1) A party to a dispute who is dissatisfied with the mediator’s decision under clause 29may appeal to a District Court against the decision. (2) An appeal must be brought by the filing of a notice of appeal— (a) within 28 days of the making of the decision concerned; or (b) within any longer time a District Court Judge allows. (3) The Registrar of the court must— (a) fix the time and place for the hearing of the appeal; and 11 cl 32 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 (b) notify the appellant and all other parties to the dispute of the time and place for the hearing of the appeal; and (c) serve a copy of the notice of appeal on every other party to the dispute. (4) Every party to the dispute may appear and be heard at the hear ing of the appeal. (5) On hearing the appeal, the court may confirm, vary, or reverse the mediator’s decision. (6) The filing of a notice of appeal does not operate as a stay of any process for the enforcement of the mediator’s decision. 32 Revocation (1) The Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2006 (SR 2006/156) is revoked. (2) Despite subclause (1), amounts of levy money that became payable to the Council before the commencement of this order under the Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2006 con tinue to be due and payable as if that order had not been re voked. Rebecca Kitteridge, Clerk of the Executive Council. Explanatory note This note is not part of the order, but is intended to indicate its general effect. This order, which comes into force on 1 September 2012, revokes and replaces the Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2006 (which expired on 22 June 2012). This order imposes a levy on asparagus planted in New Zealand for commercial purposes. The levy is payable to the New Zealand As paragus Council Incorporated and is calculated on the basis of the area of land occupied by a commercial asparagus grower and planted in asparagus. The levy is intended to fund activities specifically re 12 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM387600 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM387600 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM387600 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 Explanatory note lated to asparagus, including research, promotion, and industry de velopment. Unless earlier revoked, this order expires 6 years after it is made by virtue of section 13(1) of the Commodity Levies Act 1990. Issued under the authority of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989. Date of notification in Gazette: 26 July 2012. 13 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM227338 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM195097 Notes Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 Contents 1 General 2 Status of reprints 3 How reprints are prepared 4 Changes made under section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 5 List of amendments incorporated in this reprint (most recent first) Notes 1 General This is a reprint of the Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012. The reprint incorporates all the amendments to the order as at 12 December 2012, as specified in the list of amendments at the end of these notes. Relevant provisions of any amending enactments that contain transitional, savings, or application provisions that cannot be compiled in the reprint are also included, after the principal enactment, in chronological order. For more information, see http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/reprints/. 2 Status of reprints Under section 16D of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989, reprints are presumed to correctly state, as at the date of the reprint, the law enacted by the principal enactment and by the amendments to that enactment. This presumption applies even though editorial changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in the reprint. This presumption may be rebutted by producing the official volumes of statutes or statutory regulations in which the prin cipal enactment and its amendments are contained. 3 How reprints are prepared A number of editorial conventions are followed in the prep aration of reprints. For example, the enacting words are not included in Acts, and provisions that are repealed or revoked 14 http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/reprints/ http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM195439 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM195466 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM195466 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 Notes are omitted. For a detailed list of the editorial conventions, see http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/editorial-conventions/ or Part 8 of the Tables of New Zealand Acts and Ordinances and Statutory Regulations and Deemed Regulations in Force. 4 Changes made under section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 Section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 authorises the making of editorial changes in a reprint as set out in sections 17D and 17E of that Act so that, to the extent permitted, the format and style of the reprinted enactment is consistent with current legislative drafting practice. Changes that would alter the effect of the legislation are not permitted. A new format of legislation was introduced on 1 January 2000. Changes to legislative drafting style have also beenmade since 1997, and are ongoing. To the extent permitted by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989, all legisla tion reprinted after 1 January 2000 is in the new format for legislation and reflects current drafting practice at the time of the reprint. In outline, the editorial changes made in reprints under the au thority of section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 are set out below, and they have been applied, where relevant, in the preparation of this reprint: • omission of unnecessary referential words (such as “of this section” and “of this Act”) • typeface and type size (Times Roman, generally in 11.5 point) • layout of provisions, including: • indentation • position of section headings (eg, the number and heading now appear above the section) • format of definitions (eg, the defined term now appears in bold type, without quotation marks) • format of dates (eg, a date formerly expressed as “the 1st day of January 1999” is now expressed as “1 January 1999”) 15 http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/editorial-conventions/ http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM195466 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM195468 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM195470 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM195466 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM195466 Notes Commodity Levies (Asparagus) Order 2012 Reprinted as at 12 December 2012 • position of the date of assent (it now appears on the front page of each Act) • punctuation (eg, colons are not used after definitions) • Parts numbered with roman numerals are replaced with arabic numerals, and all cross-references are changed accordingly • case and appearance of letters and words, including: • format of headings (eg, headings where each word formerly appeared with an initial cap ital letter followed by small capital letters are amended so that the heading appears in bold, with only the first word (and any proper nouns) appearing with an initial capital letter) • small capital letters in section and subsection ref erences are now capital letters • schedules are renumbered (eg, Schedule 1 replaces First Schedule), and all cross-references are changed accord ingly • running heads (the information that appears at the top of each page) • format of two-column schedules of consequential amendments, and schedules of repeals (eg, they are rearranged into alphabetical order, rather than chrono logical). 5 List of amendments incorporated in this reprint (most recent first) Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Act 2012 (2012 No 97): section 8(g) 12 Wellington, New Zealand: Published under the authority of the New Zealand Government—2012 16 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/pdflink.aspx?id=DLM4691716