PLANT DISEASES ACT 1924 - SECT 13A Control orders

This legislation has been repealed.

PLANT DISEASES ACT 1924 - SECT 13A

13A Control orders

(1) The Minister may, by order in writing, authorise an inspector to enter any land or premises specified or described in the order and there to carry out such work, for the prevention or control of any pest or disease, as the order may authorise.

(1A) If the Minister believes on reasonable grounds that it is necessary to do so in order to eradicate or prevent the spread of an emergency disease or emergency pest, an order may authorise an inspector to do any of the following:

(a) destroy or otherwise dispose of any plants or fruit (whether or not infected), or any coverings with which such plants or fruit have been contained,

(b) destroy any other property (other than a dwelling).

(2) An order under this section may be made only if the Minister believes on reasonable grounds that the work authorised by the order is necessary in order to avoid:

(a) a danger to the health of the public or to consumers of food or produce derived from plants or to persons working with plants, or

(b) an undue hazard to the environment, or

(c) an adverse effect on trade in any plant or a product derived from the plant.

(3) A right of entry conferred by an order under this section includes, in so far as the work authorised by the order reasonably requires it, a right to enter any place forming the curtilage of, or used in connection with, any premises used for residential purposes, but not a right to enter a portion of any premises actually used as a dwelling.

(4) Before an inspector, in pursuance of an order under this section, enters any land or premises for the first time:

(a) a copy of the order is to be served on the occupier of the land or premises, if the land or premises are particularly identified in the order as land or premises to which the order applies, or

(b) if the order applies to the land or premises because it is expressed to apply within a specified area that includes the land or premises, the terms of the order are to be published in at least one newspaper circulating in the area or notified in such other manner as the Minister may specify in the order.

(5) An order under this section, unless it sooner ceases to be in force, ceases to be in force 12 months after the date on which it was made and, while in force, is subject to any conditions specified in it.

(6) An order under this section must inform occupiers of any land or premises of their rights under section 13B.

(7) The provisions of section 40 (notice of statutory rules to be tabled) and section 41 (disallowance of statutory rules) of the Interpretation Act 1987 apply to an order under this section in the same way as they apply to a statutory rule.