D1 Policy Advice: Business and Competition
D2 Administration of Import Legislation
D3 Policy Advice and Administration of Trade Remedies
D4 Registration and Granting of Intellectual Property Rights
D6 Administration of Insolvencies
D7 Registration and Provision of Statutory Information

Non-Departmental Activities

(See Statement of Non-Departmental Expenditure and Revenue by Vote for more details)
Output Class O1 - Approval and Review of Financial Reporting Standards
Output Class O2 - Performance of Securities Market Functions
Output Class O3 - Commerce Act and Fair Trading Act Enforcement and Adjudication
Output Class O5 - Formulation and Administration of the Takeovers Code
Other Expense - Settlement Expenses
Other Expense - Contribution to International Organisations
Other Expense - Risk Capital Fund Directors' fees

Output Class D1 - Policy Advice: Business and Competition

Description

This output class provides strategic and technical policy advice on the creation and maintenance of a regulatory environment that provides greater certainty for, and positively encourages, business innovation and growth. This will include policy advice on:

the costs to business of compliance with laws and regulations;
corporate and commercial law, including the competition, capital markets, insolvency and intellectual property laws;
the impact of environmental and conservation policies on business;
the impact of local government policies on business;
tariff and border;
government purchasing;
the standards, accreditation and certification infrastructure;
technical developments and regulatory frameworks relevant to electronic commerce;
other issues affecting the environment for business; and
operation of the following Crown entities:

Accounting Standards Review Board
Testing Laboratory Registration Council
Commerce Commission
Standards Council
Takeovers Panel
Securities Commission.

Outputs within This Class

Policy advice on

the drivers of business costs;
reductions in compliance costs;
local government and its infrastructure;
environmental policy including New Zealand's obligations under the Basel Convention;
corporate and commercial law;
intellectual property;
competition policy and law;
international economic and regulatory frameworks that support the interests of New Zealand exporters and recognise the needs of domestic businesses;
standards and conformance;
tariff and tariff concessions; and
information technology and electronic commerce.

Quantity, Quality, Timeliness and Cost

Details of performance relating to performance measures for generic standards and measures for policy advice provided by the Ministry of Economic Development for this Vote (Quantity, Quality and Timeliness) can be found in the Statement of Objectives and Statement of Service Performance.

Specific deliverables relating to the agreed work programme are outlined below.

Work Programme

All policy advice projects were delivered in accordance with the terms of the work programme as agreed with the Minister.

Key deliverables in the work programme for the year included:

Release of public discussion document on Part I of the Review of Securities Regulation by 31 July 2000.

The report was released by 31 July 2000. The Government took policy decisions based on the discussion document in early November 2000. The Parliamentary Counsel Office has drafted amendments to the Securities Regulations. The Securities Commission has the exclusive responsibility to recommend changes to the regulations and is consulting with the public on this as is consistent with the legislation.

Approval of Takeovers Code by Governor-General by 15 September 2000, with implementation by March 2001.

With the agreement of the Minister the date for completion was extended to 1 July 2001. The Governor-General promulgated the finalised Code on 16 October 2000. The Takeovers Code (Implementation and Enforcement) Bill was enacted in May 2001. The Code came into effect on 1 July 2001.

Report on WIPO copyright "Internet Treaties" including implications of New Zealand acceding to the treaties.

Preliminary report by 30 September 2000
Second report by 31 March 2001

Due to competing government priorities relating to parallel importation other copyright reform work was delayed during the year. However, the preliminary reports were provided. The Minister and Associate Minister agreed new reporting milestones (preliminary report November 2001, following public consultation; with a second report, if required, by May 2002). Two discussion documents on performers' rights and digital technology (the WIPO treaties) were completed and approved for release by Cabinet. They were released for public consultation in July 2001.

Strategic review of copyright including performers' rights on the implementation of the Internet treaties by 31 March 2001.

This review is dependent on completion of the above project relating to Internet treaties.

Support the enactment of the Commerce Amendment Bill as it passes through the Parliamentary process by 31 December 2000.

With the agreement of the Minister the date for completion was extended to 30 April 2001. The Commerce Amendment Act came into force following Royal Assent on 26 May 2001. It harmonises New Zealand with Australian key prohibitions against anti-competitive mergers and abuse of unilateral market power, strengthens deterrents to non-compliance, and modernises the price control regime.

Introduction of new Trade Marks Bill to Parliament by 31 December 2000.

With the agreement of the Minister the date for completion was extended to 30 June 2001 (due to the Parliamentary Counsel Office having higher priority drafting work in the second half of 2000). The Trade Marks Bill was introduced in June 2001. It contains provisions to address registration of Māori words and symbols as trade marks.

Introduce copyright legislation to give effect to the Government's requirements following the review of parallel importation controls by 31 December 2000.

Following initial policy advice Ministers requested that a further public discussion document be prepared and released. Submissions closed on 30 March 2001. Submissions were analysed and reported on to the Minister by 20 June 2001. The Minister has extended the timeline for the introduction of any legislation to 27 November 2001.

Co-ordinate the development of E-Commerce policy, including:

Organise public consultation through an electronic commerce summit by October 2000;
Develop an electronic commerce strategy for New Zealand by 31 December 2000; and
Support passage of Electronic Transactions Bill by 30 June 2001.

An E-Commerce Summit was held at the Aotea Centre in Auckland on 1-2 November 2000. It attracted over 600 people and extensive media coverage. (The dates were determined by the availability of the venue.)

The New Zealand E-Commerce Strategy was published and launched at the Summit in November 2000.

The Electronic Transactions Bill was introduced on 30 October 2000. The Ministry supported the Commerce Select Committee in its consideration of the Bill and it was reported back to the House in June 2001. At year's end the Bill was awaiting priority on the House Order paper prior to enactment.

Develop an enabling regulatory framework including work on alignment of New Zealand law with that of trading partners, to:

keep pace with technology development;
harmonise with international developments, e.g., UNCITRAL, Hague Convention; and
keep close to Australia through CER

by 30 June 2001 and ongoing.

The Electronic Transactions Bill has closely followed the UNCITRAL Model Law and taken into account similar Australian legislation.

The Ministry supported the Law Commission participation at the OECD, the Hague Conference and UNCITRAL electronic commerce meetings during the year.

Support passage of a Business Law Reform Bill that will improve the effectiveness of a range of corporate laws and reduce costs to business by 30 June 2001.

Allocation of resources to other business law reform projects and a relatively low legislative priority meant this milestone was unable to be met. A new milestone date of 30 September 2001 has been agreed by the Minister and incorporated in the 2001/2002 Purchase Agreement. A discussion document proposing approximately 110 changes to 15 statutes was released in May 2001. The closing date for submissions was 6 July 2001.

Complete a review of application of the Commerce Act to health and social services markets by 30 June 2001.

This was overtaken by the introduction of the New Zealand Health and Disability Bill 2000. The Ministry analysed the impact on competition of the proposed exemptions to the Commerce Act included in the Bill. A technical amendment was made to the Commerce Amendment Bill, which has passed into law.

Projects Not Included in the 2000/2001 Departmental Forecast Report

Provide policy advice to support the Government's compliance cost reduction programme.

A new Government "Business Compliance Cost Reduction Programme" was agreed in principle by Cabinet on 16 October 2000. The programme included the establishment of a Ministerial-appointed Business Compliance Cost Panel, to assess the impact of compliance costs on small-to-medium enterprises in particular. The Compliance Cost Panel reported to the Minister on 29 June 2001.

Policy advice to support the Government's reviews of local government funding powers and the Local Government Act.

The Ministry participated in the officials' process, with a particular focus on ensuring that any revised legislation enables an environment that encourages business innovation, development and growth.

Policy advice to support the dairy merger and the removal of statutory powers from the New Zealand Dairy Board.

The Ministry participated in the policy and legislative processes, particularly on developing the regulatory package that accompanied the merger and the nature of the authorisation under the Commerce Act.

Crown Entity Monitoring

All advice was provided to the Minister on statutory appointments to Crown entity boards as positions for renewal or appointment fell due within agreed timelines.

Monitoring and reporting to the Minister on the financial and non-financial performance of Crown entities was provided as reflected through:

The Statement of Intent - Annually
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) - Annually
The Purchase Agreement - Annually
Management reports to the Minister - Quarterly
The Annual Report - Annually

The following Crown Entities were monitored and reported on:

Accounting Standards Review Board
Testing Laboratory Registration Council (TELARC)
Commerce Commission
Standards Council
Takeovers Panel
Securities Commission

Cost

(Figures are GST exclusive)

	2001 Main Estimates	2001 Supple- mentary Estimates	2001 Actual	2000 Actual
	$000	$000	$000	$000
Revenue:
Crown	7,584	7,654	7,564	6,694
Other	68	494	543	190
Total Revenue	7,652	8,148	8,107	6,884
Expenses:
Annual appropriations	7,652	8,129	8,107	6,884
Other appropriations	-	-	-	-
Total Expenses	7,652	8,129	8,107	6,884
Net Surplus/(Deficit)	-	19	-	-

Sources of Revenue Other

	$000
E-Summit sponsorship	157
Seminar fees	269
Miscellaneous	117
	543

Major Budget Variations

The Supplementary Estimates changes included a transfer of funding from Vote: Economic Development D1 - Policy Advice: Economic Development for the implementation of the E-Commerce Strategy ($115,000); an increase in funding to meet the total costs of the E-Commerce Summit and associated regional forums ($345,000); a transfer of funding from Vote: Energy D3 - Administration of Gas and Electricity Regulations ($100,000) and Vote: Communications D1 - Policy Advice: Communications ($155,000) to operate a Business Compliance Cost Panel; and a transfer of savings to Vote: Government Superannuation Fund to meet the establishment costs of Government Superannuation Fund New Zealand (GSFNZ) (-$300,000).

The major change between 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 actual expenditure reflects both the changes referred to above, and additional policy advice on the harmonisation of New Zealand law with that of our trading partners in respect of electronic commerce and enhancing policy advice to Government on e-commerce issues.

Output Class D2 - Administration of Import Legislation

Description

This output class provides administration of tariff concessions through timely assessment of applications by importers for exemption from import duties as defined by the tariff concessions policy.

Quantity, Quality, Timeliness and Cost

(Performance standards are in brackets where applicable.)

Quantity

Number of applications lodged - 652 (690).

Quality

Processes complied with the standards contained in current Ministerial delegations and the policies contained in the Tariff Concessions Guidance Manual. No (3%) review decisions were reversed.

Timeliness

93% (90%) of initial decisions to advertise or decline an application were made within five working days of receipt.

94% (90%) of the final decisions on applications were made within 10 working days of the end of the advertising period.

Cost

(Figures are GST exclusive)

	2001 Main Estimates	2001 Supple- mentary Estimates	2001 Actual	2000 Actual
	$000	$000	$000	$000
Revenue:
Crown	-	-	-	-
Other	361	363	222	217
Total Revenue	361	363	222	217
Expenses:
Annual appropriations	352	354	319	309
Other appropriations	-	-	-	-
Total Expenses	352	354	319	309
Net Surplus/(Deficit)	9	9	(97)	(92)

Revenue Other was derived from concession application fees.

Output Class D3 - Policy Advice and Administration of Trade Remedies

Description

This output class provides policy advice in relation to trade remedies, including policy advice relating to international issues and agreements.

The output class also includes the consideration and possible investigation of applications relating to imports and the making of recommendations on the application of trade remedies, such as the imposition of import duties. This service is conducted under the Temporary Safeguard Authorities Act 1987 and the Dumping and Countervailing Duties Act 1988 in relation to dumped and subsidised goods.

Outputs in this class are:

policy advice;
consideration of dumping and countervailing applications;
investigation of dumping and countervailing cases; and
investigation of trade remedies applications.

Quantity, Quality, Timeliness and Cost

Quantity

Number of product-by-country investigations, reviews and reassessments.

There were 11 (24) investigations, reviews and reassessments during the year, 10 of which were completed. Three investigations were particularly resource-intensive due to intense scrutiny by legal representatives for parties and consideration of provisional measures. The uncompleted investigation is within the legislative timeframe for completion and has carried into the next annual reporting period.

The numbers of investigations, reviews and reassessments are driven by applications from industries. Four expected product-by-country "sunset" reviews were not requested by industry.

Quality

Investigations and reporting are to:

be recognised by the parties involved as consistent with the requirements of either the Temporary Safeguard Authorities Act 1987 or the Dumping and Countervailing Duties Act 1988; and
provide no grounds for review under judicial review proceedings with no successful court challenges.

No court proceedings were initiated.

Timeliness

100% (100%) of interested parties were advised of the essential facts and conclusions on which a final determination was based, no later than 150 days from initiation.

100% (100%) of final determinations were made no later than 180 days from initiation of an investigation.

Cost

(Figures are GST exclusive)

	2001 Main Estimates	2001 Supple- mentary Estimates	2001 Actual	2000 Actual
	$000	$000	$000	$000
Revenue:
Crown	1,440	1,360	1,310	1,447
Other	-	8	9	-
Total Revenue	1,440	1,368	1,319	1,447
Expenses:
Annual appropriations	1,440	1,368	1,319	1,447
Other appropriations	-	-	-	-
Total Expenses	1,440	1,368	1,319	1,447
Net Surplus/(Deficit)	-	-	-	-

Revenue Other was derived from miscellaneous.

Major Budget Variations

The Supplementary Estimates changes reflect a transfer to Vote: Government Superannuation Fund to meet the Government Superannuation Fund New Zealand (GSFNZ) establishment costs ($80,000).

Output Class D4 - Registration and Granting of Intellectual Property Rights

Description

This output class provides services relating to the administration of legislation providing for the protection of intellectual property rights by:

granting patents under the Patent Act 1953;
registering trade marks, designs and geographical indications under the Trade Marks Act 1953, the Designs Act 1953 and the Geographical Indications Act 1994; and
granting plant variety rights under the Plant Variety Rights Act 1987.

Outputs within this class are:

granting of patents and registering of trade marks, designs and geographical indicators by the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand;
granting of plant variety rights by the Plant Variety Rights Office.

Quantity, Quality, Timeliness and Cost

(Performance standards are in brackets where applicable.)

Quantity

New applications:

6,609 (6,200) patents;
22,620 (22,000) trade marks;
886 (940) designs; and
160 (155) plant variety rights.

Volumes are demand driven.

Quality

The Patent Office Journal publication schedule was used on a monthly basis.

Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ)

IPONZ notified applicants with the result of an initial examination within five business days of the application being eligible for examination, 95% (95%) of the time.

Plant Variety Rights Office (PVRO)

PVRO notified applicants of the decision to grant plant variety rights within four months of completion of testing, 100% (98%) of the time.

Cost

(Figures are GST exclusive)

	2001 Main Estimates	2001 Supple- mentary Estimates	2001 Actual	2000 Actual
	$000	$000	$000	$000
Revenue:
Crown	85	85	85	85
Other	8,392	9,420	9,897	9,329
Total Revenue	8,477	9,505	9,982	9,414
Expenses:
Annual appropriations	7,580	8,462	8,375	7,682
Other appropriations	-	-	-	-
Total Expenses	7,580	8,462	8,375	7,682
Net Surplus/(Deficit)	897	1,043	1,607	1,732

Sources of Revenue Other

	$000
Trademark applications	2,267
Trademark renewals	2,045
Patent applications	1,750
Patent renewals	2,938
Other fees	767
Total fees and fines	9,767
Miscellaneous	130
	9,897

Major Budget Variations

Variances between the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates and the Actual results to Supplementary Estimates Budget for the Annual Appropriations and Revenue Other items reflect additional outputs for processing greater-than-anticipated trade mark applications. The additional revenue was fiscally positive for the Crown.

The change in actual expenditure between 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 reflects the completion of the trade mark application and registration backlog in 2000/2001.

Output Class D5 - Administration of Insolvencies

Description

This output class provides administrative services associated with the management of orders made by the courts initiating personal bankruptcies and company liquidations. The purchase of administrative services relating to orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1991 is also included in this output class.

Outputs in this class are:

bankruptcies and liquidations administered; and
proceeds of crime orders administered.

Quantity, Quality, Timeliness and Cost

(Performance standards are in brackets where applicable.)

Quantity

Numbers administered:

2,886 (2,600) bankruptcies;
339 (450) liquidations; and
9 (16) proceeds of crime orders.

Volumes are demand driven.

Quality

Performance in this output class is measured by the timely completion of the administration of insolvencies as measured by the percentage of insolvency files open against total files received during a specified period. (See Timeliness below.)

Timeliness

97% (90%) of progress reports or summaries to creditors on the financial position and likelihood of a dividend were provided within 25 clear business days of adjudication or date of liquidation.

Bankruptcies

The percentage of bankruptcy files that remained open were:

six months to one year old - 11% (20%) or less remained open;
one to two years old - 3% (15%) or less remained open; and
two to three years old - 2% (5%) or less remained open.

Liquidations

The percentage of liquidation files that remained open were:

six months to one year old - 23% (40%) or less remained open;
one to two years old - 8% (15%) or less remained open; and
two to three years old - 2% (5%) or less remained open.

A specific project was undertaken aimed at closing old files prior to conversion to a new computer system resulting in significant achievement in the objectives set out above.

Cost

(Figures are GST exclusive)

	2001 Main Estimates	2001 Supple- mentary Estimates	2001 Actual	2000 Actual
	$000	$000	$000	$000
Revenue:
Crown	8,191	8,191	8,191	8,256
Other	1,594	1,634	1,024	1,129
Total Revenue	9,785	9,825	9,215	9,385
Expenses:
Annual appropriations	9,069	9,109	9,088	9,118
Other appropriations	-	-	-	-
Total Expenses	9,069	9,109	9,088	9,118
Net Surplus/(Deficit)	716	716	127	267

Sources of Revenue Other

	$000
Fees and fines	903
Interdepartmental revenue	45
Cost recovery	48
Miscellaneous	28
	1,024

Major Budget Variances

The reduced Revenue Other reflects the reduced number of estates assigned to the Official Assignee by the courts and reduced amount of funds available within these estates to be paid out as commissions.

Output Class D6 - Registration and Provision of Statutory Information

Description

This output class provides services relating to the registration and provision of a range of documents and information required to be filed on a public record by corporate entities, insurance and superannuation funds, issuers of securities and holders of securities over motor vehicles.

Outputs in this class are:

Companies Office services;
Motor Vehicles Securities Register services (until the implementation of the Personal Properties Securities);
Insurance and Superannuation Unit services; and
Personal Properties Securities Register services.

Quantity, Quality, Timeliness and Cost

(Performance standards are in brackets where applicable.)

Quantity

Companies Office

Numbers of material documents filed:

35,254 (30,000) company incorporations;
62,734 (51,000) name approvals;
1,484 (1,700) prospectuses; and
205,251 (190,000) annual returns.

Other services:

29,540 (50,000) manual file searches;
306,067 (225,000) electronic company searches. (The Companies Office has continued to encourage clients to utilise the Internet search services. The success of this programme is reflected in the higher-than-anticipated volumes.); and
19,976 (20,000) dissolutions of companies.

Motor Vehicle Securities Register (MVSR)

Numbers of registrations and inquiries (estimates in brackets):

254,729 (255,000) Security Interest Registrations; and
429,369 (363,000) electronic inquiries as to the state of the register. (Clients have been encouraged to utilise the Internet based search facilities and the higher-than-anticipated volumes reflect the increasing preference for these services.)

Insurance and Superannuation Unit

910 (1,000) Trustee Annual Reports were filed. (The lower-than-forecast number is due to more schemes than anticipated being wound up as a result of either the sponsor deciding they no longer wished to provide superannuation or the members of a scheme transferring to another registered superannuation scheme.)

Volumes are demand driven.

Quality

The Companies Office and MVSR databases were available for immediate searching 98.8% (95%) on a continuous 24-hour basis except for scheduled maintenance and upgrades or any circumstances beyond the control of the Ministry.

Companies Office

99.7% (97%) of documents input into the database were free of keystroke errors.

99.8% (99%) of documents input into the database were free of material errors.

Timeliness

99.9% (99%) of material documents were processed within one clear working day of receipt.

Projects Not Included in the 2000/2001 Departmental Forecast Report

Personal Property Securities Register

Development of an electronic Personal Property Securities Register is on track, with implementation of the system scheduled for 1 May 2002.

Cost

(Figures are GST exclusive)

	2001 Main Estimates	2001 Supple- mentary Estimates	2001 Actual	2000 Actual
	$000	$000	$000	$000
Revenue:
Crown	380	380	380	380
Other	13,699	17,689	17,936	17,311
Total Revenue	14,079	18,069	18,316	17,691
Expenses:
Annual appropriations	13,126	13,855	13,794	13,090
Other appropriations	-	-	-	-
Total Expenses	13,126	13,855	13,794	13,090
Net Surplus/(Deficit)	953	4,214	4,522	4,601

Sources of Revenue Other

	$000
Annual return fees	5,436
Incorporation of companies	2,474
Name approval	829
Financial reporting fees	1,151
Late filing fees	731
Charges	1,419
MVSR registration	2,039
MVSR certificate sales	874
Internet searching fees	1,324
Other fees	1,510
Total fees and fines	17,787
Interdepartmental revenue	10
Cost recovery	36
Miscellaneous	103
Total Revenue Other	17,936

Major Budget Variances

The increases in Revenue Other over budget for 2000/2001, and associated GST for appropriation purposes, reflect an increase in the number of new company incorporations and higher-than-forecast activity on the Motor Vehicles Security Register. These activities are demand driven. This additional revenue was fiscally positive for the Crown.

Supplementary Estimates changes to expenses reflect extra costs related to the development of an integrated Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) and an expansion of on-line registration services.

Jump to main page content.

Printed: 25/11/2009