Clause by Clause Analysis
Clause 1 relates to the Short Title and commencement. This Bill comes into force on the date on which it receives the Royal assent.
PART 1
Amendments to Principal Act
Clause 2 repeals and substitutes new definitions of the terms "landholding" and "timber" in section 2 (1) of the principal Act. The definition of "landholding" is altered to make it clear that it means an estate, right, title, or interest in land. The definition of "timber" is altered to make it clear that only trees and woody plants are covered by the definition and not all plants or all parts of plants.
A minor change is made to the definition of "planted indigenous forest", by including a reference to indigenous timber trees.
A new definition of "specified Maori land" is included in section 2 (1) of the principal Act. The term is defined to mean Maori land or General land owned by Maori originally reserved or granted under the South Island Landless Maori Act 1906, section 12 of the Maori Land Amendment Act 1914, section 88 of the Reserves and other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1916, or section 110 of the Maori Purposes Act 1931.
Clause 3 repeals section 67A of the principal Act and substitutes 2 new sections. New section 67A provides that Part IIIA of the principal Act binds the Crown. New section 67AA makes it clear that timber cannot be felled or harvested on land held, managed, or administered under the Conservation Act 1987 or any Act listed in the First Schedule of that Act, except in accordance with the Act under which the land is held, managed, or administered.
Clause 4 amends section 67C of the principal Act by—
(a) Permitting the export of any indigenous timber that is taken from an area that is subject to, and managed in accordance with, a registered sustainable forest management plan or registered sustainable forest management permit (and making a number of consequential changes):
(b) Adding a new paragraph permitting the export of indigenous timber where that timber is either a shrub, bush, seedling, or sapling, from a planted indigenous forest or, in relation to other indigenous timber, the Secretary has stated in writing that he or she is satisfied that the timber has been taken from a planted indigenous forest:
(c) Providing that the notice of intention to export required under subsection (3) must include or be accompanied by a statement of the source of the timber.
Clause 5 repeals subsections (1) and (2) of section 67D of the principal Act, and substitutes 2 new subsections that remove an exemption from the prohibition on milling indigenous timber. This exemption applied to indigenous timber from West Coast indigenous production forests. The exemption in relation to windthrown trees is amended by adding the requirement that the forest's natural values will be maintained.
Clause 6 inserts new sections 67DA and 67DB. New section 67DA provides that the Governor-General may, by Order in Council, specify forests on specified Maori land that are not exempt from the sawmilling controls in section 67D of the principal Act. Such an order may be made in relation to a particular forest only if the owner of the forest has reached a voluntary settlement with the Minister. Prior to such an Order in Council being made, indigenous timber from a forest on specified Maori land may be unsustainably harvested and milled, but not exported.
New section 67DB makes it clear that where any land is specified as land to which a registered sustainable forest management plan or a registered sustainable forest management permit applies, no person may fell indigenous timber on that land except in accordance with that plan or permit or in accordance with an approval given under section 67D (3) if that land is subject to a permit.
Clause 7 amends section 67E of the principal Act by repealing subsections (2) and (3), and substituting new subsections (2) and (3). These new subsections make it clear that a sustainable forest management plan applies to the area of land specified in the plan.
Clause 8 amends section 67F of the principal Act by repealing subsection (1), and substituting new subsections that make it clear that the owner of a landholding for an area of indigenous forest land may apply to the Secretary for approval of a draft sustainable forest management plan for all or part of that area. An amendment to subsection (2) makes it clear that the relevant area of land is the land specified in the sustainable forest management plan.
Clause 9 amends section 67G of the principal Act to require notice to be given under this section where the approval, amendment, or exemption enables beech to be harvested in coupes of more than 0.5 hectares.
Clause 10 amends section 67H (1) (a) of the principal Act to make it clear that the relevant areas are the areas specified in the plan. The clause also inserts a new subsection (1A) that provides that work for the harvesting of timber must be carried out in accordance with an annual logging plan approved by the Secretary or an approval given under section 67D.
Clause 11 makes a minor alteration in terminology in section 67I of the principal Act.
Clause 12 makes some minor alterations to section 67K of the principal Act to make it clear that a sustainable forest management plan applies to the area of land specified in the plan.
Clause 13 repeals section 67M of the principal Act (which applies to sustainable forest management permits), and substitutes a new section 67M, which repeats much of the repealed section but makes it clear that—
(a) The area of indigenous forest land to which a permit applies is the area of land specified in the permit:
(b) The harvesting must be carried out in accordance with the permit and the permit must specify the quantity of timber to be harvested in accordance with that permit:
(c) The permit cannot authorise the harvesting of more than 10% of the quantity of indigenous timber on the land specified in the permit, including not more than 250 cubic metres of podocarp or kauri or shade-tolerant, exposure-sensitive, broadleaved hardwood species and not more than 500 cubic metres of beech or other light-demanding hardwood species:
(d) A permit expires unless it is registered within 18 months of the date of issue:
(e) A permit must not be granted for an area of indigenous forest land if—
(i) A sustainable forest management plan applies to that area:
(ii) A permit applying to that area has been issued within the previous 18 months:
(iii) A permit applying to that area has been registered within the previous 10 years:
(f) Protection measures must be specified in the development of sustainable forest management permits.
Clause 14 amends section 67Q of the principal Act to require a sawmill operator to keep records for—
(a) Timber from areas of land subject to a sustainable forest management permit; and
(b) Timber harvested under any provision in Part 2 of this Bill.
Clause 15 makes a minor amendment to terminology in section 67R of the principal Act.
Clause 16 amends section 67T of the principal Act by repealing paragraph (f), and inserting 3 new paragraphs. The new paragraph (f) creates a new offence of carrying out work on land subject to a sustainable forest management plan or a sustainable forest management permit other than in accordance with an annual logging plan and new paragraph (fa) amends the terminology in the present paragraph (f). New paragraph (fb) makes it an offence to fell indigenous timber on land subject to a registered sustainable forest management plan or a registered sustainable forest management permit other than in accordance with that plan or permit or, in respect of an area of land subject to a permit, other than in accordance with an approval under section 67D (3).
Clause 17 amends section 67V of the principal Act. The amendment clarifies that nothing in Part IIIA of the principal Act derogates from any provision of the Resource Management Act 1991.
Contact for Enquiries
Policy Analyst - Forestry
Innovation and Research
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Tel: +64 4 894 0100
Fax: +64 4 894 0741
Contact this person
