BEB RPT 21 038 COVID 19 Vaccinations Order Supply Chain Exemption Redacted.pdf

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Briefing
Supply chain exemption from the COVID-19 Public Health Response
(Vaccinations) Order 2021 - outline of further policy advice
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Date due to MO: 29 July 2021
Action required by:
4 August 2021
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Security level:
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MoT Report:
OC210606
BEB Report:
21/038
To:
Hon Chris Hipkins, Minister for COVID-19 Response
Copy to:
Hon Michael Wood, Minister of Transport
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Contact for telephone discussion
Name
Position
Telephone
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Christine Stevenson
Chair of the Border Executive Board
s9(2)(a) OIA

Shelley Tucker
Director – COVID-19 Response - MoT
the
s9(2)(a) OIA

Minister’s office to complete:
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☐ Approved
☐ Decline
☐ Noted
☐ Needs change
☐ Seen
☐ Overtaken by events
☐ See Minister’s Notes
☐ Withdrawn
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Comment:
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Supply chain exemption from the COVID-19 Public Health Response
(Vaccinations) Order 2021 - outline of further policy advice
Security level:
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Date:
29 July 2021
To:
Hon Chris Hipkins, Minister for COVID-19 Response
Purpose of report
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1.
To provide further information on the supply chain exemption to the COVID-19 Public
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Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 (Vaccination Order), including:
 further context on the supply chain and the roles we expect may seek exemptions
 the evidence list we have developed to assess applications against
 the proposed process PCBUs would need to follow to apply for an exemption
 what you can expect from officials to support your role as the decision maker.
2.
We specifically seek your agreement to the type of evidence we will seek from PCBUs –
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noting the desire to strike a balance between the intent of the Order and the desire to
manage supply chain risks; and to the process – which seeks to ensure transparency
and efficient and just assessment of the applications.
Recommendations
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  We recommend you:
the
1
Note this briefing provides further advice on the supply chain exemption in the
Vaccinations Order 2021
2
Note that the Border Executive Board considered this advice on 22 July 2021
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Agree that the evidence we intend to seek from PCBUs and the process outlined
meets the intent of the Order and the supply chain exemption
Yes / No
4
Agree that representatives of the following agencies are invited to be a part of the  s9(2)(g)(i)
cross-agency panel (that will make recommendations on applications received): the  OIA
Ministry of Transport (Supply Chain and Covid-19 teams and the Senior Licensing
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Advisor), Maritime New Zealand (for maritime sector applications), Civil Aviation
Authority (for air sector applications), MBIE (team TBD), the Treasury and the
Ministry of Health (Public Health)
Yes / No
5
Agree that the Chair of BEB will consider the cross-agency panel’s recommendation
and send their advice on the recommendation to you as Minister for COVID-19
Response for decision
Yes / No
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Note that next steps will focus on development of templates and guidance to
support the maritime and aviation sectors to apply for the exemption.
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Christine Stevenson
Hon Chris Hipkins
Chair of the Border Executive Board
Minister for COVID-19 Response
Date: 30 July 2021
Date:
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Supply chain exemption from the COVID-19 Public Health
Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 - outline of further
policy advice
Background
3.
The Vaccination Order came into force on 1 May 2021. It requires that specified roles
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only be undertaken by vaccinated people. This is due to the risk that these individuals,
in the course of their work activities, may be exposed to and infected by COVID-19.
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4.
On 17 May 2021, you agreed to amend the Order to require additional groups of
workers to be vaccinated in order to work at certain higher-risk workplaces [OC210396
refers]. On 9 June 2021, you agreed that groups of persons required to be vaccinated
will be expanded to apply to people working at:
 MIQFs and MIFs (previously covered)
 airside areas of affected airports and to some other higher-risk work at airports
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 affected ports
 accommodation services where specified aircrew members are self-isolating.
5.
You agreed to a health exception for the “affected items group” and you agreed to
insert an exemption power into the Order where it was necessary to prevent significant
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disruption to essential supply chains. You consequently agreed that the power for you
(as Minister for COVID-19 Response) to grant this exemption for specified workers
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would come into force 28 days after the commencement of the Amendment Order (12
August 2021).
The supply chain exemption in the Order
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6.
The Vaccination Order places a duty on affected individuals to ensure they are
vaccinated in order to continue carrying out border work. An exemption is in place for
workers who do not get vaccinated, for cases where the removal of that worker from
the role would result in a critical supply chain disruption. The exemption is designed to
be time specified, for example to enable recruitment or retraining of workers to
perform the role.
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7.
The supply chain exemption is described in the Order as:
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Power for Minister to grant exemptions
(1) A relevant PCBU may, by notice in writing to the Minister, apply for an exemption for a person
specified in the application from any other provision of this order.
(2) The relevant PCBU must, in writing, inform the person specified in the application of the application.
(3) If the Minister receives an application, the Minister may ask the relevant PCBU to provide any
evidence or other information that the Minister reasonably requires for the purposes of deciding
whether to grant the exemption.
(4) The Minister may exempt the person specified in the application from any provision of this order for
a specified period if satisfied, on the basis of the evidence or other information provided, that—
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(a) the exemption is necessary or desirable—
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(i) to promote the purposes of the Act; and
(ii) to prevent significant disruption to essential supply chains; and
(b) the extent of the exemption is not broader than is reasonably necessary to address the matters
that gave rise to the exemption.
(5) Before granting an exemption, the Minister must take into account—
(a) the potential for significant supply chain disruption if the work carried out by a particular person
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does not occur, including the extent of the risk to the public interest if the work does not occur; and
(b) the extent to which the work is necessary, including whether it could reasonably be—
(i) delayed to facilitate the vaccination of the persons needed to carry out work; or
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(ii) performed by other persons who have been vaccinated; and
(c) the public health risk associated with the work.
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(6) The Minister may impose conditions on the exemption as the Minister considers necessary.
(7) The Minister must, in writing, inform the relevant PCBU and the person specified in the application
of the outcome of the application and, if the exemption is granted, when the exemption expires.
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(8) If an exemption is granted under this clause, the relevant PCBU must provide the person exempted
with written notice of the exemption that states when the exemption expires.
We expect interest from a number of PCBUS, particularly in the port
environment
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8.
Stakeholder engagement carried out ahead of the public announcement of the
amendment to the Order has confirmed that the most likely workers to seek a supply
chain exemption will be in the port environment. Relative to the aviation sector, the
port sector has lower vaccination rates, and has an existing supply chain constraint. The
supply chain congestion context, and port roles affected by this Order, are discussed
below.
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9.
Aviation stakeholders have (in most cases) relatively high vaccination rates already and
have not identified any particular supply chain impacts that may result from the Order
coming into force. This isn’t to say there won’t be applications from this sector, but at
this time we are expecting the balance of interest in the exemption to be from port
PCBUs.
10.
The higher-risk port workers who will be required to be vaccinated under the Order are:
a. workers who board affected ships
b. pilots carrying out work on or around affected ships
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c. stevedores carrying out work on or around affected ships
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d. all workers who transport persons (other than crew) to or from affected ships
e. all other port workers who interact with anyone required to be in isolation or
quarantine under a COVID-19 Order.
11.
Based on Border Worker Testing Register data from 9 July 2021, there are 2,662 total
active port workers in the register, 54% of which (or 1,435) are fully vaccinated, 2% (or
57) have received the 1st dose, and 44% (or 1,170) who have yet to receive a dose.
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Ports are currently under significant pressure due to ongoing supply chain
congestion and disruptions to global trade
12.
There are currently significant delays and blockages throughout the global supply
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chain. Ship arrivals into New Zealand ports are very unreliable due to delays everywhere
across the world, which creates challenges for rostering appropriate staff to service
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ships due to unpredictability and lumpy demand. The sector is already suffering
significant labour and skills shortages while at the same time requiring more labour
than usual to cope with erratic schedules, resulting in inefficiently loaded ships and
congested container terminals. For example, the Port of Tauranga reports that their
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average labour hours per ship increased from 14 hours in November 2019 to 28 hours
in November 2020.
13.
Any delays in processing one ship at a port has consequences for the wider supply
chain. Ports only receive a few days’ notice of the ships due to come in, and even that
can vary at the last minute. Ships have different sizes and different types of cargo, so
port crews need to tailor their response to servicing each ship. To service incoming
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ships, ports need to organise their labour around the combination of equipment and
staff required for each particular ship, while also taking into account health and safety
requirements such as management of fatigue. (Labour is often on call due to the
varying nature of ship arrivals.) As ports operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week
regardless of weather, fatigue is a major issue particularly because of delays, much of
the work being very physical and the use of specialised heavy machinery to load and
unload cargo.
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32.
MoT will host information about the exemption and process on the MoT website,
including a template or application form.  The MoT’s Senior Licensing Advisor will be
the first port of call for enquiries, and PCBUs will make the application, through the
MoT’s website/Senior Licensing Advisor.
33.
MoT’s Senior Licensing Advisor will do a high-level review of the application, to ensure
enough information has been provided for a full assessment to occur. It is expected
that more information may be sought from the PCBU at this time.
34.
MoT will then convene a cross-agency panel to assess the application. A cross-agency
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panel Terms of Reference will be developed to support this process. It is proposed to
invite the following roles/agencies to be panel members:
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a.  the MoT Senior Licensing Advisor – as the coordinator of the process
b.  a Ministry of Health (MoH) public health representative – to assess the public
health risk and recommend any addition public health measures required by the
worker should the exemption be granted
c.  Maritime New Zealand and/or Civil Aviation Authority (dependent on whether the
application relates to maritime or air border workers) – providing ke
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knowledge on the role of the worker within the PCBU and supply chain,
training/recruitment knowledge and other specialist sector knowledge
d.  a representative of the Supply Chain team at MoT – contributing expertise on the
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supply chain context and broader public interest elements
e.  a member of the Covid-19 team at MoT – as a conduit to BEB
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f.  a Treasury representative – contributing broader expertise on economic impacts
g.  an MBIE (team TBD) representative – contributing a broader business and
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economic view.
35.
This panel (likely to be mostly made up of managers) will assess the alignment of the
application to the criteria, and form a recommendation of whether the application
should be granted by the Minister, any public health mitigations required, and a time
limit for the exemption.  Panel members will need to represent their agency in
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informing the exemption request recommendation. For example, the MoH
representative will need to contribute the public health advice for the Ministry.
36.
Based on this process, a report will be prepared with a recommendation for the Chair of
BEB, who will then send their advice on the recommendation to you.

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37.
We expect it will take at least two weeks from receipt of application to communication
of a final decision. You would be provided at least three days to consider the
recommendation. This balances time for assessment by the panel and a Ministerial
decision, and allowing workers time to comply with the Order should the application be
declined.
Next steps
38.
If you agree that the suggested evidence and process in this document will strike the
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necessary balance of the intent of the Order and the maintenance of the supply chain,
we will develop documents to support PCBUs to apply for the exemption.
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39.
Namely, we will publish guidance, FAQs, templates and contact information for PCBUs
wanting more information. We would publish this material approximately one week
before the exemption process commences on 12 August 2021. The panel will meet as
and when required, dependent on when/the number of requests received.
40.
The Border Executive Board will use regular reporting mechanisms to advise you of
when applications and recommendations may be provided to you and associated
timeframes.
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