You may remember that we submitted this application in September last year, after receiving mandate to implement the levy from growers at the 2016 referendum. The Ministry for Primary Industries’ policy and legal teams are in the process of reviewing our application for a Biosecurity Levy Order.
As part of this review, MPI made observations in relation to notification and record keeping. We addressed these observations back in April and our response was found to meet MPI’s legislative requirements.
Our application is now in the hands of the policy approval team which has made further observations to include notification to growers of the following matters in relation to record keeping and disputes resolution:
- Growers and Summerfruit NZ are required to keep levy records for 10 years after the date the levy was paid.
- The process for resolution of disputes regarding levy payment will offer the option of mediation prior to arbitration, and that arbitration would provide a right of appeal to a District Court Judge against a decision of an arbitrator.
Summerfruit NZ has been informed that the Biosecurity Levy Order will be completed by early August.