New South Wales Consolidated Acts

APIARIES ACT 1985 - SECT 25

25 Restriction on introduction of bees into New South Wales

(1) Subject to subsection (6), a person shall not bring or cause to be brought into New South Wales from another State, or a Territory, of the Commonwealth or from any place outside Australia any bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances unless they are accompanied by a certificate in writing under the hand of any prescribed officer of that State, Territory or place to the effect that the bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances are free of all prescribed diseases and have not emanated from or been in an area in which a prescribed disease is present.

Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.

(2) Where an inspector suspects on reasonable grounds that:

(a) bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances are being or have been brought into New South Wales in contravention of subsection (1),

(b) a certificate which is accompanying or accompanied bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances that are being or have been brought into New South Wales, although purporting to be a certificate of the kind referred to in subsection (1), is or was forged or is or was false or misleading in a material respect, or

(c) bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances that are being or have been brought into New South Wales are, although accompanied by a certificate of the kind referred to in subsection (1), infected with a prescribed disease,

the inspector or another inspector:

(d) may, in the case of bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) that are being brought into New South Wales, refuse to allow the person in charge of the bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances to bring them into New South Wales and require that person to remove them to some place outside New South Wales, or

(e) may, in the case of bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) (whether they are being or have been brought into New South Wales), seize and detain the bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances pending their disposal under this Act,

and, where a requirement is made to a person under paragraph (d), the person shall comply with the requirement forthwith.

(3) Where an inspector suspects on reasonable grounds that:

(a) bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances are about to be brought into New South Wales in contravention of subsection (1),

(b) a certificate which is accompanying bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances that are about to be brought into New South Wales, although purporting to be a certificate of the kind referred to in subsection (1), is forged or is false or misleading in a material respect, or

(c) bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances that are about to be brought into New South Wales are, although accompanied by a certificate of the kind referred to in subsection (1), infected with a notifiable disease,

the inspector or another inspector may refuse to allow the person in charge of the bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances to bring them into New South Wales and require that person to remove them to some other place outside New South Wales and, where any such requirement is made of a person, that person shall comply with the requirement forthwith.

(4) Where bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances have been seized under subsection (2) because they were not accompanied by a certificate of the kind referred to in subsection (1) and a certificate of that kind is produced to an inspector within the period prescribed for the purposes of this subsection, the inspector may release those bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances to such person as appears to the inspector to be their owner or to be entitled to possession of them.

(5) Any person who fails to comply with a requirement made under subsection (2) or (3) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a penalty not exceeding 10 penalty units.

(6) If there is for the time being in force under section 26 an order prohibiting, whether absolutely or subject to exceptions, the importation into New South Wales or any specified area of New South Wales of bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances, or bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances of any specified class or description, nothing in this section shall be construed as authorising the importation or bringing into New South Wales or that specified area of bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances, or of bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances of that class or description, notwithstanding that those bees, beehives, apiary products or appliances are accompanied by a certificate of the kind referred to in subsection (1).