13 December 2024
Ref: DOIA-REQ-0006467-J Bruning
J Bruning
Email:
[email address] Tēnā koe J Bruning
Thank you for your email of 15 November 2024 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
(MBIE) requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following information:
Papers concerning the new Gene Technology regulations - no information appears to be released
to the public as yet (November 15, 2024)
1.
Please list all discussion documents supplied to you, the date they were supplied, and which
agency/authority/department supplied them.
2.
Please can I have a copy of all regulatory impact analyses held by your office. 3.
Please can I have a copy of any regulatory impact statements held by your office. 4. All email discussions or memos of who may be 'affected persons'.
Please see MBIE’s response to the above bullet points below:
[1] Please list all discussion documents supplied to you, the date they were supplied, and which
agency/authority/department supplied them.
MBIE is the lead agency for the Coalition Government’s gene technology reforms so has not been
provided with discussion documents by other government organisations. Therefore, this part of your
request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act, as the information requested does not exist.
However, you may be interested in the following online documents that were reviewed by MBIE staff:
• The Ministry for the Environment’s consultation in 2023 on improving GMO regulations for
laboratory and biomedical research:
https://consult.environment.govt.nz/comms/gmo-
regulations/.
• The Royal Society Te Apārangi’s reports in 2019 on gene editing in New Zealand:
https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/major-issues-and-projects/gene-editing-in-aotearoa/
[2] & [3] Please can I have a copy of all regulatory impact analyses and statements held by your office.
The
Regulatory Impact Statement – Reform of Gene Technology Regulation has been proactively released,
and you can find it on MBIE’s website her
e: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/science-and-technology/science-
and-innovation/agencies-policies-and-budget-initiatives/gene-technology-regulation MBIE has not developed any other regulatory impact analyses or statements relevant to the regulation of
gene technologies. Therefore, this part of your request is refused under section 18(d) of the Act, as the
information requested is publicly available.
[4] All email discussions or memos of who may be 'affected persons'.
We assume this part of your request is about whether provisions regarding “affected persons” in the
Resource Management Act 1991 would be adopted in the new Gene Technology Bill (the Bill). The
concept was not considered for inclusion in the Bill, so this part of your request is refused under s18(e) of
the Act as the information requested does not exist.
If you were instead seeking information about the sectors that might be impacted by the Bill, the above
Regulatory Impact Statement contains the most comprehensive analysis. In particular:
• Pages 113-116 cover MBIE’s assessment of the expected costs and benefits on different groups.
• Pages 123-127 list the stakeholders MBIE consulted to develop our policy advice on the Bill.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, or if you require any further assistance,
please contact
[email address]. You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802
602.
Nāku noa, nā
Tony de Jong
Manager, Biotechnology Policy and Regulation
Labour, Science and Enterprise, MBIE
