Organic Products and Production Bill

Members, we come now to Part 2, which is the debate on clauses 8 to 44A, “Approval and recognition”. The question is that Part 2 stand part.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’d just like to take a moment to speak to Supplementary Order Paper 309 in my colleague Mark Cameron’s name. It’s in regards to who must or may be approved as an operator, and I know you’ve spoken to this just before, but I just urge the Minister in the chair, David Parker, to take on board the concerns that were expressed for small operators that may just be selling products only to local markets or to substitute their income in some way, like neighbourhood markets or farmers markets. They’re going to get caught up in this regulation and red tape, which may cause it to no longer be viable for them to continue to do so at the local markets in the weekend.

My colleague Mark Cameron spoke to me about a retired couple that he had spoken to that had a few extra cucumbers left over at the end of what they’d been growing and so they took them down to the local markets to kind of substitute their income, their retirement income, to have a better quality of life. This legislation may cause them to reconsider that. There are many people that are just small players in the market—not selling to shops and things like that, not exporting overseas—that will get caught up in this. At a time when we’re in a cost of living crisis and people are just trying to get by, do we really think that it’s necessary to have a one-size-fits-all policy that affects these small players? Thank you, Minister.

The member raises a fair point. I don’t think the intention is that those people be regulated. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) advised that the bill already includes provisions which enable classes of operators to be exempt from the requirement to be approved as an operator. The proposed regulations that MPI is developing under the bill do recognise that the costs of approval can be disproportionate for the small businesses that the member describes, and therefore a class exemption—they wouldn’t have to apply for an exemption; the regulations are expected to come through with a class exemption from the requirement to be approved as an operator for the business. One of the reasons that MPI considers that’s the more appropriate route for an exemption, to sit in regulations, is it enables other things to be put round it that we might not be able to contemplate with a general exemption provision, such as that which is proposed by Mr Cameron. But I accept the concern behind it, which is reflected in the comments that I’ve made.

The question is that the Minister’s Part 2 amendments to Supplementary Order Paper 262 set out on Supplementary Order Paper 284 be agreed to.

The question is that the Minister’s amendments to Part 2 set out on Supplementary Order Paper 262 as amended be agreed to.

The question is that Mark Cameron’s amendment to clause 10 set out on Supplementary Order Paper 309 be agreed to.