Minister's Update

I would like to update you on the Quality Regulation Review's progress and on the process underway for responding to concerns that have been raised.

Sector Studies

136 interviews have been completed across four sectors: retailing, hospitality, wine and horticulture. Industry associations from these sectors as well as individual businesses have supported our work and I want to thank all of them most sincerely for the time they have put into this.

Businesses have raised valid concerns about the implementation and administration of particular regulatory requirements and the costs these impose on business. Concerns heard to date include:

• Regulators need to provide clear, accessible and user-friendly information to ensure businesses know exactly what they need to do to comply with the law;
• Regulators often take a one-size-fits-all approach to the implementation of regulation that does not necessarily reflect the fact that businesses are different;
• Issues arise from the interface between different regulatory systems. For example, problems of duplication, inconsistency and uncertainty.

A summary report of the concerns and the Government's initiatives in response is currently in preparation and will be made available in the latter half of 2007.

Progress

Good progress has been made to address business concerns. A number of initiatives are being implemented already and more are expected as the Government continues to consider the issues raised.

Achievements to date include:

• Legislative changes - e.g. following the passage of the Customs and Excise Amendment Bill in February 2007, the due dates for the excise levy and the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC) levies paid by the wine industry are now aligned to 1 July.
• Communication and information dissemination initiatives - e.g. the Department of Labour is developing guidance on how to manage the health and safety of contractors; and changes have been made to the biz.org.nz website, which will be launched in August 2007.
• Changes to administrative processes and procedures - e.g. ACC and Inland Revenue have agreed to work together to investigate (and implement where possible) ways to improve the coordination of data collection and share information on businesses.
• The establishment of new work programmes - e.g. the Ministry of Health is reviewing contractual and legislative requirements for audits of health and disability service providers. The Government has also agreed to a work programme to resolve issues around the interface between building and resource consents processes.
• Inclusion of issues in existing reviews and departmental work programmes - e.g. Inland Revenue will add the issues of what constitutes an invoice for GST purposes and the requirement to pay PAYE twice-monthly for employers engaged in the horticulture sector to the government's Tax Policy Work Programme.
• Development of tools to help businesses meet their regulatory requirements - e.g. an on-line tool to assist businesses with entitlement calculations under the Holidays Act was released in March 2007 and an on-line Hazard Builder for SMEs, aligning Health and Safety in Employment Act requirements with the ACC Workplace Safety Discount programme information, will be completed by June 2007.
• Changes to government mechanisms and processes for developing legislation and regulation - e.g. changes to the Regulatory Impact Analysis requirements, which came into effect on 1 April 2007, will allow those affected by regulatory proposals to have input early in the policy development process and will ensure that Ministers have the best information in front of them when making decisions.

The Review is heading into its final stages and is on track for completion in July 2007.

Each interviewee / submitter will receive a letter from the Quality Regulation Taskforce at the conclusion of the review with a response to the concerns they have raised.

The Business Consultation Website is still open if you want to make a submission.

Hon Lianne Dalziel
Minister of Commerce
Minister for Small Business

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