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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
GENE TECHNOLOGY
BILL 2001
Queensland
GENE TECHNOLOGY BILL 2001
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
PART 1--PRELIMINARY
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2 Commencement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 Object of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4 Regulatory framework to achieve object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5 Nationally consistent scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6 Act binds all persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7 External Territories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8 Offences and penalties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8A Numbering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
8B Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
8C Outlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
PART 2--INTERPRETATION AND OPERATION OF ACT
Division 1--Simplified outline
9 Simplified outline of pt 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Division 2--Definitions
10 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
11 Meaning of "intentional release of a GMO into the environment" . . . . . . . . 15
12 Meaning of "corresponding State law" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
12A Meaning of "reckless" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Division 3--Operation of Act
13 Operation of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
14 Wind-back of reach of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
15 Relationship to other State laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
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Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 4--Provisions to facilitate a nationally consistent scheme
Subdivision 1--General provisions
16 State laws may operate concurrently. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
17 Conferral of functions on Commonwealth officers and bodies. . . . . . . . . . . 17
18 No doubling-up of liabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
19 Review of certain decisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
20 Things done for multiple purposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Subdivision 2 --Policy principles, policy guidelines and codes of
practice
21 Ministerial council may issue policy principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
22 Consultation on policy principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
23 Ministerial council may issue policy guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
24 Ministerial council may issue codes of practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
PART 3--THE GENE TECHNOLOGY REGULATOR
25 Simplified outline of pt 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
26 The gene technology regulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
27 Functions of the regulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
28 Powers of the regulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
29 Delegation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
30 Independence of the regulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
PART 4--REGULATION OF DEALINGS WITH GMOs
Division 1--Simplified outline
31 Simplified outline of pt 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Division 2--Dealings with GMOs must be licensed
32 Person not to deal with a GMO without a licence with full knowledge or
recklessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
33 Person not to deal with a GMO without a licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
34 Person must not breach conditions of a GMO licence with full intention
and knowledge or recklessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
35 Person must not breach conditions of a GMO licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
36 Person must not breach conditions on GMO register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
37 Offence relating to notifiable low risk dealings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
38 Aggravated offences--significant damage to health or safety of people or
to the environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
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Gene Technology Bill 2001
PART 5--LICENSING SYSTEM
Division 1--Simplified outline
39 Simplified outline of pt 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Division 2--Licence applications
40 Person may apply for a licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
41 Application may be withdrawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
42 Regulator may require applicant to give further information . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
43 Regulator must consider applications except in certain circumstances. . . . . 29
44 Regulator may consult with applicant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
45 Regulator must not use certain information in considering
licence application ........................................ 29
Division 3--Initial consideration of licences for dealings not involving
intentional release of a GMO into the environment
46 Applications to which div 3 applies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
47 What the regulator must do in relation to application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Division 4--Initial consideration of licences for dealings involving
intentional release of a GMO into the environment
48 Applications to which div 4 applies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
49 Dealings that may pose significant risks to the health and safety of people
or the environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
50 Regulator must prepare risk assessment and risk management plan. . . . . . . 32
51 Matters regulator must take into account in preparing risk assessment and
risk management plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
52 Public notification of risk assessment and risk management plan . . . . . . . . 34
53 Regulator may take other actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
54 Person may request copies of certain documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Division 5--Decision on licence etc.
55 Regulator must make a decision on licence and licence conditions . . . . . . . 36
56 Regulator must not issue the licence unless satisfied as to risk management 36
57 Other circumstances in which regulator must not issue the licence . . . . . . . 36
58 Matters to be taken into account in deciding whether a person is suitable
to hold a licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
59 Notification of licence decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
60 Period of licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
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Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 6--Conditions of licences
61 Licence is subject to conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
62 Conditions that may be prescribed or imposed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
63 Condition about informing people of obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
64 Condition about monitoring and audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
65 Condition about additional information to be given to the regulator . . . . . . 40
66 Person may give information to regulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
67 Protection of persons who give information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Division 7--Suspension, cancellation and variation of licences
68 Suspension and cancellation of licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
69 Surrender of licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
70 Transfer of licences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
71 Variation of licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
72 Regulator to notify of proposed suspension, cancellation or variation . . . . . 43
Division 8--Annual charge
72A GMO licence--annual charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
PART 6--REGULATION OF NOTIFIABLE LOW RISK
DEALINGS AND DEALINGS ON THE GMO REGISTER
Division 1--Simplified outline
73 Simplified outline of pt 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Division 2--Notifiable low risk dealings
74 Notifiable low risk dealings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
75 Regulation of notifiable low risk dealings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Division 3--The GMO register
76 GMO register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
77 Contents of register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
78 Regulator may include dealings with GMOs on GMO register . . . . . . . . . . 47
79 Regulator not to make determination unless risks can be managed . . . . . . . 47
80 Variation of GMO register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
81 Inspection of register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
PART 7--CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION
Division 1--Simplified outline
82 Simplified outline of pt 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
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Division 2--Certification
83 Application for certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
84 When the regulator may certify the facility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
85 Regulator may require applicant to give further information . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
86 Conditions of certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
87 Variation of certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
88 Suspension or cancellation of certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
89 Regulator to notify of proposed suspension, cancellation or variation . . . . . 50
90 Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Division 3--Accredited organisations
91 Application for accreditation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
92 Regulator may accredit organisations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
93 Regulator may require applicant to give further information . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
94 Conditions of accreditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
95 Variation of accreditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
96 Suspension or cancellation of accreditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
97 Regulator to notify of proposed suspension, cancellation or variation . . . . . 53
98 Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
PART 8--THE GENE TECHNOLOGY TECHNICAL ADVISORY
COMMITTEE, THE GENE TECHNOLOGY COMMUNITY
CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE AND THE GENE TECHNOLOGY
ETHICS COMMITTEE
Division 1--Simplified outline
99 Simplified outline of pt 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Division 2--The gene technology technical advisory committee
100 The gene technology technical advisory committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
101 Function of the gene technology technical advisory committee . . . . . . . . . . 55
102 Expert advisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
103 Remuneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
104 Members and procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
105 Subcommittees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Division 3--The gene technology community consultative committee
106 The gene technology community consultative committee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
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Gene Technology Bill 2001
107 Function of consultative committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
108 Membership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
109 Remuneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
110 Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
110A Subcommittees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Division 4--The gene technology ethics committee
111 The gene technology ethics committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
112 Function of the gene technology ethics committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
113 Expert advisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
114 Remuneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
115 Members and procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
116 Subcommittees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
PART 9--ADMINISTRATION
Division 1--Simplified outline
117 Simplified outline of pt 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Division 2--Appointment and conditions of regulator
118 Appointment of the regulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
119 Termination of appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
120 Disclosure of interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
121 Acting appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
122 Terms and conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
123 Outside employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
124 Remuneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
125 Leave of absence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
126 Resignation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Division 3--Money
127 Regulator may charge for services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
128 Notional payments by the State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
129 Gene technology account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
130 Credits to gene technology account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
131 Recovery of amounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
132 Purposes of account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
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Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 4--Staffing
133 Staff assisting the regulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
134 Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
135 Seconded officers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Division 5--Reporting requirements
136 Annual report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
136A Quarterly reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
137 Reports to parliament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Division 6--Record of GMO and GM product dealings
138 Record of GMO and GM product dealings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
139 Inspection of GM record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Division 7--Reviews of notifiable low risk dealings and exemptions
140 Regulator may review notifiable low risk dealings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
141 Regulator may review exemptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
142 Regulator may give notice of consideration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
143 What regulator may do after consideration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
144 Regulator not required to review matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
PART 10--ENFORCEMENT
145 Simplified outline of pt 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
146 Regulator may give directions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
147 Injunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
148 Forfeiture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
PART 11--POWERS OF INSPECTION
Division 1--Simplified outline
149 Simplified outline of pt 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Division 2--Appointment of inspectors and identity cards
150 Appointment of inspectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
151 Identity card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Division 3--Monitoring powers
152 Powers available to inspectors for monitoring compliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
153 Monitoring powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
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Division 4--Offence-related powers
154 Searches and seizures related to offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
155 Offence-related powers of inspectors for premises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
156 Use of equipment at premises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Division 5--Expert assistance
157 Expert assistance to operate a thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Division 6--Emergency powers
158 Powers available to inspectors for dealing with dangerous situations . . . . . 77
Division 7--Obligations and incidental powers of inspectors
159 Inspector must produce identity card on request. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
160 Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
161 Details of warrant to be given to occupier etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
162 Announcement before entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
163 Compensation for damage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Division 8--Power to search goods, baggage etc.
164 Power to search goods, baggage etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
165 Seizure of goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Division 9--General provisions relating to search and seizure
166 Copies of seized things to be provided . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
167 Occupier entitled to be present during search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
168 Receipts for things seized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
169 Retention of seized things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
170 Magistrates Court may permit a thing to be retained . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
171 Disposal of goods if there is no owner or owner can not be located. . . . . . . 83
Division 10--Warrants
172 Monitoring warrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
173 Offence-related warrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
174 Offence-related warrants by telephone, telex, fax etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
175 Offences relating to warrants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Division 11--Other matters
176 Part not to abrogate privilege against self-incrimination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
177 Part does not limit power to impose licence conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
9
Gene Technology Bill 2001
PART 12--MISCELLANEOUS
Division 1--Simplified outline
178 Simplified outline of pt 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Division 2--Review of decisions
179 Meaning of "reviewable decision" and "eligible person" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
180 Notification of decisions and review rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
181 Internal review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
182 Deadlines for making reviewable decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
183 Review of decisions by Administrative Appeals Tribunal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
183A Extended standing for judicial review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Division 3--Confidential commercial information
184 Application for protection of confidential commercial information . . . . . . . 90
185 Regulator may declare that information is confidential commercial
information ............................................... 91
186 Revocation of declaration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
187 Confidential commercial information must not be disclosed . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Division 4--Conduct by directors, employees and agents
188 Conduct by directors, employees and agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
189 Meaning of terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Division 5--Transitional provisions
190 Dealings covered by Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee advice
to proceed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
191 Regulations may relate to transitional matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Division 6--Other
192 False or misleading information or document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
192A Interference with dealings with GMOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
192B Cloning of human beings is prohibited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
192C Certain experiments involving animal eggs prohibited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
192D Certain experiments involving putting human and animal cells into a human
uterus prohibited ........................................... 99
192E Attempts to commit offences against Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
192F Proceedings for an offence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
192G Approved forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
10
Gene Technology Bill 2001
193 Regulation-making power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
194 Review of operation of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
195 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
SCHEDULE 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
REVIEWABLE DECISIONS AND ELIGIBLE PERSONS
SCHEDULE 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENT
AGRICULTURAL AND VETERINARY CHEMICALS (QUEENSLAND)
ACT 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
SCHEDULE 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
DICTIONARY
2001
A BILL
FOR
An Act to provide for regulating activities involving gene technology,
and for other purposes
s1 12 s4
Gene Technology Bill 2001
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
PART 1--PRELIMINARY 2
1 Short title 3
This Act may be cited as the Gene Technology Act 2001 or the Gene 4
Technology Law of Queensland or simply as the Gene Technology Law. 5
6
Note--
7
This section differs from section 1 of the Commonwealth Act.
2 Commencement 8
(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act commences on a day to be fixed by 9
proclamation. 10
(2) If a provision of this Act does not commence before 1 January 2002, 11
it commences on 1 January 2002. 12
13
Note--
14
This section differs from section 2 of the Commonwealth Act.
3 Object of Act 15
The object of this Act is to protect the health and safety of people, and to 16
protect the environment, by identifying risks posed by or as a result of gene 17
technology, and by managing the risks by regulating certain dealings with 18
GMOs. 19
4 Regulatory framework to achieve object 20
The object of this Act is to be achieved by a regulatory framework that-- 21
(aa) provides that, where there are threats of serious or irreversible 22
environmental damage, a lack of full scientific certainty should 23
not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to 24
prevent environmental degradation; and 25
s5 13 s8
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) provides an efficient and effective system for the application of 1
gene technologies; and 2
(b) operates in conjunction with other Commonwealth and State 3
regulatory schemes relevant to GMOs and GM products. 4
5
Note--
6
Examples of the schemes mentioned in paragraph (b) are schemes that regulate food,
7
agricultural and veterinary chemicals, industrial chemicals and therapeutic goods.
5 Nationally consistent scheme 8
It is the intention of the Parliament that this Act form a component of a 9
nationally consistent scheme for the regulation of certain dealings with 10
GMOs by the Commonwealth and the States. 11
6 Act binds all persons 12
(1) This Act binds all persons, including the State, and, so far as the 13
legislative power of the Parliament permits, the Commonwealth and the 14
other States. 15
(2) Nothing in this Act makes the Commonwealth or a State liable to be 16
prosecuted for an offence. 17
7 External Territories 18
19
Note--
20
The Commonwealth Act includes a provision extending that Act to every external
21
Territory other than Norfolk Island.
8 Offences and penalties 22
23
Notes--
24
1. The Commonwealth Act includes a provision applying chapter 2 of the Criminal
25
Code (Cwlth) to offences against the Commonwealth Act and construing penalty
26
provisions in that Act. The Criminal Code of Queensland applies for the purposes
27
of this Act.
28
2. Penalties prescribed under this Act are expressed in Queensland penalty units. The
29
number of penalty units in each case is as close as possible to the Commonwealth
30
monetary penalty, rounded down to the next penalty unit.
s 8A 14 s 8C
Gene Technology Bill 2001
8A Numbering 1
(1) In order to maintain consistent numbering between this Act and the 2
Commonwealth Act-- 3
(a) if the Commonwealth Act contains a section not required in this 4
Act, the provision number and heading to the section appearing 5
in the Commonwealth Act are included in this Act despite the 6
omission of the body of the section; and 7
(b) if this Act contains a section that is not included in the 8
Commonwealth Act, the section is numbered so as to maintain 9
consistency in numbering between sections common to both 10
Acts. 11
(2) A provision number and heading mentioned in subsection (1)(a) form 12
part of this Act. 13
14
Notes--
15
1. A note appears under each heading of a kind mentioned in subsection (1)(a)
16
describing the omitted section of the Commonwealth Act.
17
2. A note appears under each section of a kind mentioned in subsection (1)(b)
18
highlighting the non-appearance of an equivalent section in the Commonwealth
19
Act.
20
3. This section does not appear in the Commonwealth Act.
8B Notes 21
Notes do not form part of this Act. 22
23
Note--
24
This section does not appear in the Commonwealth Act.
8C Outlines 25
The provisions appearing at the beginning of parts 2 to 12, outlining the 26
parts, are intended only as a guide to readers as to the general scheme and 27
effect of the parts. 28
29
Note--
30
This section does not appear in the Commonwealth Act.
s9 15 s 11
Gene Technology Bill 2001
PART 2--INTERPRETATION AND OPERATION OF ACT 1
Division 1--Simplified outline 2
9 Simplified outline of pt 2 3
In outline, this part-- 4
(a) provides for the definitions used in this Act; and 5
(b) contains provisions to facilitate the nationally consistent 6
regulatory scheme mentioned in section 5; and 7
(c) enables the Ministerial council to issue policy principles, policy 8
guidelines and codes of practice. 9
10
Note--
11
This section differs from section 9 of the Commonwealth Act.
Division 2--Definitions 12
10 Definitions 13
(1) The dictionary in schedule 3 defines particular words used in this 14
Act. 15
(2) If this Act requires or permits the Ministerial council to do a thing, 16
the Ministerial council must do the thing under the gene technology 17
agreement. 18
19
Note--
20
Subsection (1) differs from section 10(1) of the Commonwealth Act.
11 Meaning of "intentional release of a GMO into the environment" 21
A dealing with a GMO involves the "intentional release of the GMO 22
into the environment" if the GMO is intentionally released into the open 23
environment, whether or not it is released with provision for limiting the 24
dissemination or persistence of the GMO or its genetic material in the 25
environment. 26
s 12 16 s 14
Gene Technology Bill 2001
12 Meaning of "corresponding State law" 1
2
Note--
3
The Commonwealth Act includes a provision defining "corresponding State law" for
4
that Act.
12A Meaning of "reckless" 5
(1) A person is "reckless" in relation to a circumstance if-- 6
(a) the person is aware of a substantial risk that the circumstance 7
exists or will exist; and 8
(b) having regard to the circumstances known to the person, it is 9
unjustifiable to take the risk. 10
(2) A person is "reckless" in relation to a result if-- 11
(a) the person is aware of a substantial risk that the result will 12
happen; and 13
(b) having regard to the circumstances known to the person, it is 14
unjustifiable to take the risk. 15
(3) It is a question of fact as to whether taking a risk is unjustifiable. 16
17
Note--
18
This section does not appear in the Commonwealth Act.
Division 3--Operation of Act 19
13 Operation of Act 20
21
Note--
22
The Commonwealth Act includes a provision about the application of that Act.
14 Wind-back of reach of Act 23
24
Note--
25
The Commonwealth Act includes a provision about the giving of wind-back notices by
26
a State.
s 15 17 s 18
Gene Technology Bill 2001
15 Relationship to other State laws 1
This Act is in addition to, and not in substitution for, any other law of the 2
State, whether passed or made before or after the commencement of this 3
section. 4
5
Note--
6
The equivalent section in the Commonwealth Act deals with the relationship of that Act
7
to other Commonwealth laws.
Division 4--Provisions to facilitate a nationally consistent scheme 8
Subdivision 1--General provisions 9
16 State laws may operate concurrently 10
11
Note--
12
The Commonwealth Act includes a provision allowing State laws, other than State laws
13
prescribed for the provision, to operate concurrently with the Commonwealth Act.
17 Conferral of functions on Commonwealth officers and bodies 14
15
Note--
16
The Commonwealth Act includes a provision allowing corresponding State laws to
17
confer functions, powers and duties on certain Commonwealth officers and bodies.
18 No doubling-up of liabilities 18
(1) If-- 19
(a) an act or omission is an offence against this Act and is also an 20
offence against the Commonwealth Act; and 21
(b) the offender has been punished for the offence under the 22
Commonwealth Act; 23
the offender is not liable to be punished for the offence under this Act. 24
(2) If a person has been ordered to pay a pecuniary penalty under the 25
Commonwealth Act, the person is not liable to a pecuniary penalty under 26
this Act for the same conduct. 27
s 19 18 s 21
Gene Technology Bill 2001
19 Review of certain decisions 1
(1) A person may apply to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal 2
established under the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act for review of a 3
reviewable State decision. 4
(2) A decision made by the regulator in performing a function or 5
exercising a power under this Act is a reviewable State decision if-- 6
(a) this Act provides for review by the Administrative Appeals 7
Tribunal; and 8
(b) the decision is declared under a regulation made under the 9
Commonwealth Act to be a reviewable State decision for the 10
Commonwealth Act, section 19. 11
(3) The Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act, other than part IVA, and 12
the regulations in force under that Act apply as laws of the State for 13
reviewable State decisions. 14
(4) For this section, a reference in a provision of the Administrative 15
Appeals Tribunal Act, as the provision applies as a law of the State, to all or 16
any part of part IVA of that Act is taken to be a reference to all or part of 17
that part as it has effect as a law of the Commonwealth. 18
19
Notes--
20
1. This section differs from section 19 of the Commonwealth Act.
21
2. The regulations in force mentioned in subsection (3) are those in force from time
22
to time. See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 14H(2) and the Statutory
23
Instruments Act 1992, section 14(1) and schedule 1.
20 Things done for multiple purposes 24
The validity of a licence, certificate or other thing issued, given or done 25
under this Act is not affected only because it was issued, given or done also 26
under the Commonwealth Act. 27
Subdivision 2 --Policy principles, policy guidelines and codes of practice 28
21 Ministerial council may issue policy principles 29
(1) The Ministerial council may issue policy principles for any of the 30
following-- 31
(a) ethical issues about dealings with GMOs; 32
s 22 19 s 23
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(aa) recognising areas, if any, designated under a law of the State for 1
the purpose of preserving the identity of 1 or both of the 2
following-- 3
(i) GM crops; 4
(ii) non-GM crops; 5
for marketing purposes; 6
(b) matters about dealings with GMOs prescribed under a regulation 7
for this paragraph. 8
(2) Before issuing a policy principle, the Ministerial council must be 9
satisfied the policy principle was developed under the Commonwealth Act, 10
section 22. 11
(3) A regulation for subsection (1)(b) may be about matters other than 12
the health and safety of people or the environment, but must not derogate 13
from the health and safety of people or the environment. 14
15
Notes--
16
1. Section 57 provides that the regulator must not issue a licence if to do so would be
17
inconsistent with a policy principle.
18
2. The Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 24AA, and the Statutory Instruments Act
19
1992, section 14(1) and schedule 1, confer power to amend or repeal an instrument
20
or decision made under an Act.
21
3. This section differs from section 21 of the Commonwealth Act.
22 Consultation on policy principles 22
23
Note--
24
The Commonwealth Act includes a provision about how policy principles must be
25
developed.
23 Ministerial council may issue policy guidelines 26
The Ministerial council may issue policy guidelines about matters 27
relevant to the functions of the regulator under this Act. 28
29
Notes--
30
1. Section 56 requires the regulator to have regard to policy guidelines when deciding
31
an application for a GMO licence. Section 30 provides that the regulator is not
32
subject to direction in relation to individual decisions.
s 24 20 s 27
Gene Technology Bill 2001
1
2. The Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 24AA, and the Statutory Instruments Act
2
1992, section 14(1) and schedule 1, confer power to amend or repeal any
3
instrument or decision made under an Act.
24 Ministerial council may issue codes of practice 4
The Ministerial council may issue codes of practice, developed under 5
section 24(2) of the Commonwealth Act, about gene technology. 6
7
Notes--
8
1. The Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 24AA, and the Statutory Instruments Act
9
1992, section 14(1) and schedule 1, confer power to amend or repeal any
10
instrument or decision made under an Act.
11
2. Section 24 of the Commonwealth Act includes provisions about how codes of
12
practice must be developed and making them disallowable instruments.
PART 3--THE GENE TECHNOLOGY REGULATOR 13
25 Simplified outline of pt 3 14
In outline, this part states the functions and powers of the gene 15
technology regulator under this Act. 16
17
Note--
18
This section differs from section 25 of the Commonwealth Act.
26 The gene technology regulator 19
20
Note--
21
Section 26 of the Commonwealth Act creates the office of gene technology regulator.
27 Functions of the regulator 22
The regulator has the following functions-- 23
(a) to perform functions relating to GMO licences under part 5; 24
(b) to develop draft policy principles and policy guidelines, as 25
requested by the Ministerial council; 26
(c) to develop codes of practice; 27
s 28 21 s 29
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(d) to issue technical and procedural guidelines about GMOs; 1
(e) to provide information and advice to other regulatory agencies 2
about GMOs and GM products; 3
(f) to provide information and advice to the public about regulating 4
GMOs; 5
(g) to provide advice to the Ministerial council about-- 6
(i) the operations of the regulator and the gene technology 7
technical advisory committee; and 8
(ii) the effectiveness of the legislative framework for regulating 9
GMOs, including about possible amendment of relevant 10
legislation; 11
(h) to undertake or commission research about risk assessment and 12
the biosafety of GMOs; 13
(i) to promote the harmonisation of risk assessments for GMOs and 14
GM products by regulatory agencies; 15
(j) to monitor international practice for regulating GMOs; 16
(k) to maintain links with international organisations dealing with 17
the regulation of gene technology and with agencies regulating 18
GMOs in places outside the State; 19
(l) to perform other functions conferred on the regulator under this 20
Act or any other law. 21
28 Powers of the regulator 22
Subject to this Act, the regulator has power to do all things necessary or 23
convenient to be done for or in connection with performing the regulator's 24
functions under this Act. 25
29 Delegation 26
(1) The regulator may, in writing, delegate any of the regulator's powers 27
or functions under this Act to any of the following-- 28
(a) a public service employee; 29
(b) if the functions of a State agency relate, directly or indirectly, to 30
GMOs or GM products--an officer or employee of the State 31
agency; 32
s 30 22 s 31
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(c) if the functions of a Commonwealth authority relate, directly or 1
indirectly, to GMOs or GM products--an employee of the 2
Commonwealth authority. 3
(2) In exercising powers or performing functions under a delegation, the 4
delegate must comply with any directions of the regulator. 5
6
Note--
7
This section differs from section 29 of the Commonwealth Act.
30 Independence of the regulator 8
(1) Subject to this Act and other laws of the State, the regulator has 9
discretion in performing or exercising the regulator's functions or powers 10
under this Act. 11
(2) In particular, the regulator is not subject to direction from anyone 12
about-- 13
(a) whether or not a particular application for a GMO licence is 14
issued or refused; or 15
(b) the conditions to which a particular GMO licence is subject. 16
PART 4--REGULATION OF DEALINGS WITH GMOS 17
Division 1--Simplified outline 18
31 Simplified outline of pt 4 19
In outline, this part-- 20
(a) deals with the regulation of dealings with GMOs; and 21
(b) prohibits dealings with GMOs unless-- 22
(i) the person undertaking the dealing is authorised to do so by 23
a GMO licence; or 24
(ii) the dealing is a notifiable low risk dealing; or 25
(iii) the dealing is an exempt dealing; or 26
s 32 23 s 33
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(iv) the dealing is included in the GMO register under part 6, 1
division 3; and 2
(c) imposes heavier penalties on unlawful dealings that cause, or are 3
likely to cause, significant damage to the health and safety of 4
people or to the environment. 5
Division 2--Dealings with GMOs must be licensed 6
32 Person not to deal with a GMO without a licence with full 7
knowledge or recklessness 8
A person commits an indictable offence if the person-- 9
(a) deals with a GMO, knowing it is a GMO; and 10
(b) knows the dealing with the GMO by the person is not authorised 11
by a GMO licence or is reckless as to whether or not the dealing 12
is so authorised; and 13
(c) knows the dealing is not a notifiable low risk dealing or is 14
reckless as to whether or not the dealing is a notifiable low risk 15
dealing; and 16
(d) knows the dealing is not an exempt dealing or is reckless as to 17
whether or not the dealing is an exempt dealing; and 18
(e) knows the dealing is not included on the GMO register or is 19
reckless as to whether or not the dealing is included on the GMO 20
register. 21
Maximum penalty-- 22
(a) for an aggravated offence--5 years imprisonment or 23
2 933 penalty units; or 24
(b) otherwise--2 years imprisonment or 733 penalty units. 25
26
Notes--
27
1. This section differs from section 32 of the Commonwealth Act.
28
2. For provisions corresponding to section 32(4) of the Commonwealth Act, see the
29
Statutory Instruments Act 1992, section 25.
33 Person not to deal with a GMO without a licence 30
(1) A person commits an offence if-- 31
s 34 24 s 34
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) the person deals with a GMO, knowing it is a GMO; and 1
(b) the dealing with the GMO by the person is not authorised by a 2
GMO licence; and 3
(c) the dealing is not a notifiable low risk dealing; and 4
(d) the dealing is not an exempt dealing; and 5
(e) the dealing is not included on the GMO register. 6
Maximum penalty-- 7
(a) for an aggravated offence--293 penalty units; or 8
(b) otherwise--73 penalty units. 9
(2) An offence against this section may be charged in the alternative to 10
an offence against section 32 that is dealt with summarily. 11
12
Notes--
13
1. This section differs from section 33 of the Commonwealth Act.
14
2. This section does not affect the Criminal Code, sections 23 and 24.
34 Person must not breach conditions of a GMO licence with full 15
intention and knowledge or recklessness 16
(1) The holder of a GMO licence commits an indictable offence if the 17
holder-- 18
(a) intentionally takes an action or omits to take an action; and 19
(b) knows the action or omission contravenes the licence or is 20
reckless as to whether or not the action or omission contravenes 21
the licence. 22
Maximum penalty-- 23
(a) for an aggravated offence--5 years imprisonment or 24
2 933 penalty units; or 25
(b) otherwise--2 years imprisonment or 733 penalty units. 26
(2) A person covered by a GMO licence commits an indictable offence if 27
the person-- 28
(a) intentionally takes an action or omits to take an action; and 29
s 35 25 s 35
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) knows the action or omission contravenes the licence or is 1
reckless as to whether or not the action or omission contravenes 2
the licence; and 3
(c) has knowledge of the conditions of the licence. 4
Maximum penalty-- 5
(a) for an aggravated offence--5 years imprisonment or 6
2 933 penalty units; or 7
(b) otherwise--2 years imprisonment or 733 penalty units. 8
(3) A contravention of subsection (1) or (2) continues as long as the 9
action continues to be taken or the omission continues and may be charged 10
as a continuing offence in 1 or more complaints for periods for which the 11
offence continues. 12
Maximum penalty for each day the offence continues after a conviction 13
against the subsection-- 14
(a) for an aggravated offence--293 penalty units; or 15
(b) otherwise--73 penalty units. 16
17
Note--
18
This section differs from section 34 of the Commonwealth Act.
35 Person must not breach conditions of a GMO licence 19
(1) The holder of a GMO licence commits an offence if-- 20
(a) the holder takes an action or omits to take an action; and 21
(b) the action or omission contravenes the licence. 22
Maximum penalty-- 23
(a) for an aggravated offence--293 penalty units; or 24
(b) otherwise--73 penalty units. 25
(2) A person covered by a GMO licence commits an offence if-- 26
(a) the person takes an action or omits to take an action; and 27
(b) the action or omission contravenes the licence; and 28
(c) the person has knowledge of the conditions of the licence. 29
s 36 26 s 37
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Maximum penalty-- 1
(a) for an aggravated offence--293 penalty units; or 2
(b) otherwise--73 penalty units. 3
(3) An offence against this section may be charged in the alternative to 4
an offence against section 34 that is dealt with summarily. 5
6
Notes--
7
1. This section differs from section 35 of the Commonwealth Act.
8
2. This section does not affect the Criminal Code, sections 23 and 24.
36 Person must not breach conditions on GMO register 9
A person commits an offence if-- 10
(a) the person deals with a GMO knowing it is a GMO; and 11
(b) the dealing is on the GMO register; and 12
(c) the dealing contravenes a condition about the dealing that is 13
stated in the GMO register. 14
Maximum penalty--73 penalty units. 15
16
Note--
17
This section differs from section 36 of the Commonwealth Act and does not affect the
18
Criminal Code, sections 23 and 24.
37 Offence relating to notifiable low risk dealings 19
A person commits an offence if-- 20
(a) the person deals with a GMO, knowing it is a GMO; and 21
(b) the dealing is a notifiable low risk dealing; and 22
(c) the dealing by the person was not undertaken in accordance with 23
the regulations. 24
Maximum penalty--73 penalty units. 25
26
Notes--
27
1. Notifiable low risk dealings are specified in the regulations--see part 6.
28
2. This section differs from section 37 of the Commonwealth Act.
29
3. This section does not affect the Criminal Code, sections 23 and 24.
s 38 27 s 39
Gene Technology Bill 2001
38 Aggravated offences--significant damage to health or safety of 1
people or to the environment 2
(1) An offence is an "aggravated offence" if the commission of the 3
offence causes significant damage, or is likely to cause significant damage, 4
to the health and safety of people or to the environment. 5
(2) In order to prove an aggravated offence, the prosecution must prove 6
that the person who committed the offence-- 7
(a) intended the person's conduct to cause significant damage to the 8
health and safety of people or to the environment; or 9
(b) was reckless as to whether the conduct would cause significant 10
damage to the health and safety of people or to the environment. 11
PART 5--LICENSING SYSTEM 12
Division 1--Simplified outline 13
39 Simplified outline of pt 5 14
In outline, this part-- 15
(a) provides a licensing system under which a person may apply to 16
the regulator for a licence authorising dealings with GMOs; and 17
(b) states the processes the regulator must follow for applications 18
involving the following kinds of dealings-- 19
(i) dealings involving the intentional release of a GMO into the 20
environment; 21
(ii) dealings not involving the intentional release of a GMO into 22
the environment; and 23
(c) provides that a licence may cover dealings by persons other than 24
the licence holder and requires the licence holder to inform the 25
persons of any conditions of the licence applying to the persons. 26
s 40 28 s 41
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 2--Licence applications 1
40 Person may apply for a licence 2
(1) A person may apply to the regulator for a licence authorising stated 3
dealings with 1 or more stated GMOs by a person or persons. 4
(2) The application must be in writing and must contain-- 5
(a) the information, if any, prescribed under a regulation; and 6
(b) the information specified in writing by the regulator. 7
(3) The application must state whether any of the proposed dealings 8
would involve the intentional release of a GMO into the environment. 9
(4) The dealings for which a person may apply for a licence may be-- 10
(a) all dealings with a GMO or with a stated class of GMOs; or 11
(b) a stated class of dealings with a GMO or with a stated class of 12
GMOs; or 13
(c) 1 or more stated dealings with a GMO or with a stated class of 14
GMOs. 15
(5) The applicant may apply for a licence authorising the dealings by-- 16
(a) a stated person or persons; or 17
(b) a stated class of person; or 18
(c) all persons. 19
(6) The application must be accompanied by the application fee, if any, 20
prescribed under a regulation. 21
41 Application may be withdrawn 22
(1) The applicant may withdraw the application at any time before the 23
licence is issued. 24
(2) The application fee is not refundable if the applicant withdraws the 25
application. 26
s 42 29 s 45
Gene Technology Bill 2001
42 Regulator may require applicant to give further information 1
(1) The regulator may, by written notice, require the applicant to give the 2
regulator any further information about the application the regulator 3
requires. 4
(2) The notice may state the period within which the information must 5
be given. 6
43 Regulator must consider applications except in certain 7
circumstances 8
(1) The regulator must consider the application under this part. 9
(2) However, the regulator is not required to consider the application if-- 10
(a) it does not contain the information specified by the regulator or 11
prescribed under a regulation; or 12
(b) it does not satisfy section 40(3); or 13
(c) it is not accompanied by the application fee, if any, prescribed 14
under a regulation; or 15
(d) the applicant did not provide the further information required by 16
the regulator by notice under section 42 within the period stated 17
in the notice; or 18
(e) the regulator is satisfied that to issue the licence would be 19
inconsistent with a policy principle in force under section 21. 20
(3) The regulator must issue the licence, or refuse to issue the licence, 21
within the period, if any, prescribed under a regulation. 22
44 Regulator may consult with applicant 23
Before considering the application, the regulator may consult the 24
applicant, or another regulatory agency, on any aspect of the application. 25
45 Regulator must not use certain information in considering 26
licence application 27
If-- 28
(a) a person (the "first person") applies for a GMO licence; and 29
s 46 30 s 47
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) the first person gives information to the regulator for the 1
regulator's consideration of the application; and 2
(c) the information is confidential commercial information; 3
the regulator must not take the information into account in considering an 4
application by another person for a GMO licence, unless the first person 5
has given written consent for the information to be so taken into account. 6
Division 3--Initial consideration of licences for dealings not involving 7
intentional release of a GMO into the environment 8
46 Applications to which div 3 applies 9
This division applies to an application for a GMO licence if the regulator 10
is satisfied none of the proposed dealings would involve the intentional 11
release of a GMO into the environment. 12
47 What the regulator must do in relation to application 13
(1) Before issuing the licence, the regulator must prepare a risk 14
assessment and a risk management plan for the proposed dealings. 15
(2) In preparing the risk assessment, the regulator must take into account 16
the risks posed by the dealings, including any risks to the health and safety 17
of people and any risks to the environment. 18
(3) In preparing the risk management plan, the regulator must take into 19
account the ways of managing any risks posed by the dealings that 20
protect-- 21
(a) the health and safety of people; and 22
(b) the environment. 23
(4) The regulator may consult any of the following on any aspect of the 24
application-- 25
(a) the States; 26
(b) the gene technology technical advisory committee; 27
(c) relevant Commonwealth authorities or agencies; 28
(d) any local government the regulator considers appropriate; 29
(e) any other person the regulator considers appropriate. 30
s 48 31 s 49
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 4--Initial consideration of licences for dealings involving 1
intentional release of a GMO into the environment 2
48 Applications to which div 4 applies 3
This division applies to an application for a GMO licence if the regulator 4
is satisfied at least 1 of the proposed dealings would involve the intentional 5
release of a GMO into the environment. 6
49 Dealings that may pose significant risks to the health and safety of 7
people or the environment 8
(1) If the regulator is satisfied at least 1 of the proposed dealings may 9
pose significant risks to the health and safety of people or the environment, 10
the regulator must publish a notice about the application-- 11
(a) in the gazette; and 12
(b) in a newspaper circulating generally in the State; and 13
(c) on the regulator's website, if any. 14
(2) For satisfying himself or herself as to whether the dealings may pose 15
significant risks to the health and safety of people or the environment, the 16
regulator must have regard to the following-- 17
(a) the properties of the organism to which the dealings relate before 18
it became, or will become, a GMO; 19
(b) the effect, or the expected effect, of genetic modification that has 20
occurred, or will occur, on the properties of the organism; 21
(c) provisions for limiting the dissemination or persistence of the 22
GMO or its genetic material in the environment; 23
(d) the potential for spread or persistence of the GMO or its genetic 24
material in the environment; 25
(e) the extent or scale of the proposed dealings; 26
(f) any likely impacts of the proposed dealings on the health and 27
safety of people; 28
(g) any other matter prescribed under a regulation for this paragraph. 29
(3) The notice mentioned in subsection (1) must state-- 30
(a) that the application has been made; and 31
s 50 32 s 51
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) that a person may request further information about the 1
application under section 54; and 2
(c) an invitation for persons to make written submissions on whether 3
the licence should be issued, being submissions about matters the 4
regulator is required to take into account-- 5
(i) under section 51(1)(a) in preparing a risk assessment about 6
the proposed dealings; and 7
(ii) under section 51(2)(a) in preparing a risk management plan 8
about the proposed dealings; and 9
(d) the closing date for submissions, which must not be earlier than 10
30 days after the date on which the notice was published. 11
50 Regulator must prepare risk assessment and risk management 12
plan 13
(1) Before issuing the licence, the regulator must prepare a risk 14
assessment and a risk management plan for the proposed dealings. 15
(2) The regulator must prepare the risk assessment and risk management 16
plan whether or not the regulator was required to publish a notice about the 17
application under section 49. 18
(3) The regulator must seek advice on matters relevant to the preparation 19
of the risk assessment and risk management plan from the following-- 20
(a) the States; 21
(b) the gene technology technical advisory committee; 22
(c) each Commonwealth authority or agency prescribed under a 23
regulation for this paragraph; 24
(d) the Commonwealth Environment Minister; 25
(e) any local government the regulator considers appropriate. 26
51 Matters regulator must take into account in preparing risk 27
assessment and risk management plan 28
(1) In preparing the risk assessment, the regulator must take into account 29
the following-- 30
s 51 33 s 51
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) the risks posed by the proposed dealings, including any risks to 1
the health and safety of people or risks to the environment having 2
regard to the matters mentioned in section 49(2)(a) to (g); 3
(b) any submission made under section 49(3)(c) about the risks; 4
(c) any advice about the risk assessment given by the following in 5
response to a request under section 50(3)-- 6
(i) a State; 7
(ii) the gene technology technical advisory committee; 8
(iii) a Commonwealth authority or agency; 9
(iv) the Commonwealth Environment Minister; 10
(ii) a local government; 11
(d) any other matter prescribed under a regulation for this paragraph. 12
(2) In preparing the risk management plan, the regulator must take into 13
account the following-- 14
(a) the ways of managing any risks posed by the proposed dealings 15
that protect-- 16
(i) the health and safety of people; and 17
(ii) the environment; 18
(b) any submission made under section 49(3)(c) about the ways of 19
managing the risks; 20
(c) any advice about the risk management plan given by the 21
following entities in response to a request under section 50(3)-- 22
(i) a State; 23
(ii) the gene technology technical advisory committee; 24
(iii) a Commonwealth authority or agency; 25
(iv) the Commonwealth Environment Minister; 26
(ii) a local government; 27
(d) any other matter prescribed under a regulation for this paragraph. 28
(3) To avoid doubt, it is declared that in taking into account the ways of 29
managing risks mentioned in subsection (2)(a), the regulator-- 30
(a) is not limited to considering submissions or advice mentioned in 31
subsection (2)(b) and (c); and 32
s 52 34 s 52
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) subject to section 45,1 may take into account other information, 1
including, but not limited to, relevant independent research. 2
52 Public notification of risk assessment and risk management plan 3
(1) After taking the steps mentioned in sections 49 (if applicable), 50 4
and 51, the regulator must publish a notice-- 5
(a) in the gazette; and 6
(b) in a newspaper circulating generally in the State; and 7
(c) on the regulator's website, if any. 8
(2) The notice must state-- 9
(a) that a risk assessment and a risk management plan have been 10
prepared for the proposed dealings; and 11
(b) that a person may request further information about the risk 12
assessment and risk management plan under section 54; and 13
(c) an invitation for persons to make written submissions about the 14
risk assessment and risk management plan; and 15
(d) the closing date for submissions, which must not be earlier than 16
30 days after the date on which the notice was published. 17
(3) The regulator must also seek advice on the risk assessment and risk 18
management plan from the following-- 19
(a) the States; 20
(b) the gene technology technical advisory committee; 21
(c) each Commonwealth authority or agency prescribed under a 22
regulation for this paragraph; 23
(d) the Commonwealth Environment Minister; 24
(e) any local government the regulator considers appropriate. 25
1 Section 45 (Regulator not to use certain information in considering licence
application)
s 53 35 s 54
Gene Technology Bill 2001
53 Regulator may take other actions 1
(1) In addition to satisfying the requirements of this division, the 2
regulator may take any other action the regulator considers appropriate for 3
deciding the application, including holding a public hearing. 4
(2) If the regulator holds a public hearing, the regulator may, having 5
regard to the requirements of this Act about confidential commercial 6
information, direct that any part of the hearing be held in private, and may 7
decide who may attend. 8
(3) The regulator may give directions prohibiting or restricting the 9
publication of evidence given, or material contained in documents 10
produced, at a public hearing. 11
(4) A person must not contravene a direction given under subsection (3). 12
Maximum penalty for subsection (4)--44 penalty units. 13
54 Person may request copies of certain documents 14
(1) A person may ask the regulator for a copy of the following 15
documents-- 16
(a) an application to which this division applies; 17
(b) a risk assessment or risk management plan prepared under 18
section 50. 19
(2) If a person makes a request under subsection (1), the regulator must 20
provide to the person a copy of the documents, other than-- 21
(a) any confidential commercial information contained in the 22
documents; and 23
(b) any information contained in the documents about relevant 24
convictions of the applicant for the licence. 25
26
Note--
27
For information to be confidential commercial information, it must be covered by a
28
declaration under section 185.
s 55 36 s 57
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 5--Decision on licence etc. 1
55 Regulator must make a decision on licence and licence conditions 2
After taking the steps required by division 3 or 4 for an application for a 3
GMO licence, the regulator-- 4
(a) must decide whether to issue or refuse to issue the licence; and 5
(b) if the regulator decides to issue the licence--may impose 6
conditions on it. 7
56 Regulator must not issue the licence unless satisfied as to risk 8
management 9
(1) The regulator must not issue the licence unless the regulator is 10
satisfied that any risks posed by the proposed dealings are able to be 11
managed in a way that protects-- 12
(a) the health and safety of people; and 13
(b) the environment. 14
(2) For subsection (1), the regulator must have regard to each of the 15
following-- 16
(a) if a risk assessment has been prepared under section 50 for the 17
dealings--the risk assessment; 18
(b) if a risk management plan has been prepared under section 50 for 19
the dealings--the risk management plan; 20
(c) any submissions received under section 52; 21
(d) any policy guidelines in force under section 23 about-- 22
(i) risks that may be posed by the dealings; or 23
(ii) ways of managing the risks that protect the health and safety 24
of people or to protect the environment. 25
57 Other circumstances in which regulator must not issue the licence 26
(1) The regulator must not issue the licence if the regulator is satisfied 27
that issuing the licence would be inconsistent with a policy principle in 28
force under section 21. 29
s 58 37 s 58
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(2) The regulator must not issue the licence unless the regulator is 1
satisfied the applicant is a suitable person to hold the licence. 2
58 Matters to be taken into account in deciding whether a person is 3
suitable to hold a licence 4
(1) Without limiting the matters to which the regulator may have regard 5
in deciding whether an individual is a suitable person to hold a licence, the 6
regulator must have regard to-- 7
(a) any relevant conviction of the individual; and 8
(b) any revocation or suspension of a licence or permit, however 9
described, held by the individual under a law of the State, the 10
Commonwealth, another State or a foreign country, being a law 11
about the health and safety of people or the environment; and 12
(c) the capacity of the individual to meet the conditions of the 13
licence. 14
(2) Without limiting the matters to which the regulator may have regard 15
in deciding whether a body corporate is a suitable person to hold a licence, 16
the regulator must have regard to-- 17
(a) any relevant conviction of the body corporate; and 18
(b) if there is a relevant conviction of the body corporate-- 19
(i) whether the offence concerned was committed when any 20
person who is presently a director of the body corporate was 21
a director of the body corporate; and 22
(ii) whether the offence was committed when any officer or 23
shareholder of the body corporate who is presently in a 24
position to influence the management of the body corporate 25
was an officer or shareholder of the body corporate; and 26
(c) any revocation or suspension of a licence or permit, however 27
described, held by the body corporate under a law of the State, 28
the Commonwealth, another State or a foreign country, being a 29
law about the health and safety of people or the environment; and 30
(d) the capacity of the body corporate to meet the licence conditions. 31
(3) This section does not affect the Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of 32
Offenders) Act 1986. 33
s 59 38 s 62
Gene Technology Bill 2001
1
Note--
2
This section differs from section 58 of the Commonwealth Act.
59 Notification of licence decision 3
The regulator must notify the applicant in writing of the regulator's 4
decision, including any conditions imposed by the regulator. 5
60 Period of licence 6
(1) A GMO licence continues in force-- 7
(a) if the licence is expressed to be in force for a particular 8
period--until the end of the period; or 9
(b) otherwise--until it is cancelled or surrendered. 10
(2) A licence is not in force during a period of suspension. 11
Division 6--Conditions of licences 12
61 Licence is subject to conditions 13
A GMO licence is subject to the following conditions-- 14
(a) the conditions stated in sections 63 to 65; 15
(b) any conditions prescribed under a regulation; 16
(c) any conditions imposed by the regulator when issuing the 17
licence; 18
(d) any conditions imposed by the regulator under section 71 after 19
the licence is issued. 20
62 Conditions that may be prescribed or imposed 21
(1) Licence conditions may include conditions imposing obligations 22
about GM products derived from a GMO for which particular dealings are 23
licensed. 24
(2) Licence conditions may be about, but are not limited to, the 25
following-- 26
(a) the scope of the dealings authorised by the licence; 27
s 63 39 s 63
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) the purposes for which the dealings may be undertaken; 1
(c) variations to the scope or purposes of the dealings; 2
(d) documentation and record-keeping requirements; 3
(e) the required level of containment for the dealings, including 4
requirements about the certification of facilities to stated 5
containment levels; 6
(f) waste disposal requirements; 7
(g) measures to manage risks posed to the health and safety of 8
people, or to the environment; 9
(h) data collection, including studies to be conducted; 10
(i) auditing and reporting; 11
(j) actions to be taken in case of the release of a GMO from a 12
contained environment; 13
(k) the geographic area in which the dealings authorised by the 14
licence may occur; 15
(l) requiring compliance with a code of practice issued under 16
section 24, or a technical or procedural guideline issued under 17
section 27; 18
(m) supervision by, and monitoring by, institutional biosafety 19
committees; 20
(n) contingency planning for unintended effects of the dealings 21
authorised by the licence; 22
(o) limiting the dissemination or persistence of the GMO or its 23
genetic material in the environment. 24
(3) Licence conditions may also include conditions requiring the licence 25
holder to be adequately insured against any loss, damage or injury that may 26
be caused to human health, property or the environment by the dealings 27
authorised by the licence. 28
63 Condition about informing people of obligations 29
(1) It is a condition of a licence that the licence holder inform any person 30
covered by the licence, to whom a particular condition of the licence 31
applies, of the following-- 32
(a) the particular condition, including any variations of it; 33
s 64 40 s 65
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) the cancellation or suspension of the licence; 1
(c) the surrender of the licence. 2
(2) Requirements about the way in which information is given under 3
subsection (1) may be-- 4
(a) prescribed under a regulation; or 5
(b) specified by the regulator. 6
(3) The requirements may include, but are not limited to, matters about 7
labelling, packaging, conducting training and giving information. 8
(4) If the requirements are prescribed or specified, it is a condition of a 9
licence that the licence holder comply with the requirements. 10
64 Condition about monitoring and audits 11
(1) It is a condition of a licence that if-- 12
(a) a person is authorised by the licence to deal with a GMO; and 13
(b) a particular condition of the licence applies to the dealing by the 14
person; 15
the person must allow the regulator, or a person authorised by the regulator, 16
to enter premises where the dealing is being undertaken, for auditing or 17
monitoring the dealing. 18
(2) Subsection (1) does not limit the conditions that may be imposed by 19
the regulator or prescribed under a regulation. 20
65 Condition about additional information to be given to the 21
regulator 22
(1) It is a condition of a licence that the licence holder inform the 23
regulator if the licence holder becomes aware of-- 24
(a) additional information as to any risks to the health and safety of 25
people, or to the environment, associated with the dealings 26
authorised by the licence; or 27
(b) any contraventions of the licence by a person covered by the 28
licence; or 29
(c) any unintended effects of the dealings authorised by the licence. 30
(2) For subsection (1)-- 31
s 66 41 s 68
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) the licence holder is taken to have become aware of additional 1
information of a kind mentioned in subsection (1) if the licence 2
holder was reckless as to whether the information existed; and 3
(b) the licence holder is taken to have become aware of 4
contraventions, or unintended effects, of a kind mentioned in 5
subsection (1) if the licence holder was reckless as to whether the 6
contraventions had occurred, or the unintended effects existed. 7
66 Person may give information to regulator 8
A person covered by a licence may inform the regulator if the person 9
becomes aware of any of the following-- 10
(a) additional information as to any risks to the health and safety of 11
people, or to the environment, associated with the dealings 12
authorised by the licence; 13
(b) any contraventions of the licence by a person covered by the 14
licence; 15
(c) any unintended effects of the dealings authorised by the licence. 16
67 Protection of persons who give information 17
A person does not incur any civil liability for loss, damage or injury of 18
any kind suffered by another person because the first person gave 19
information to the regulator under section 65 or 66. 20
Division 7--Suspension, cancellation and variation of licences 21
68 Suspension and cancellation of licence 22
The regulator may, by written notice given to the holder of a GMO 23
licence, suspend or cancel the licence if-- 24
(a) the regulator reasonably believes a condition of the licence has 25
been contravened, whether by the licence holder or a person 26
covered by the licence; or 27
(b) the regulator reasonably believes the licence holder, or a person 28
covered by the licence, has committed an offence against this 29
Act; or 30
s 69 42 s 70
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(c) any annual charge payable for the licence remains unpaid after 1
the due date; or 2
(d) the licence was obtained improperly; or 3
(e) the regulator becomes aware of risks associated with the 4
continuation of the dealings authorised by the licence, and is 5
satisfied the licence holder has not proposed, or is not in a 6
position to implement, adequate measures to deal with the risks; 7
or 8
(f) the regulator is satisfied the licence holder is no longer a suitable 9
person to hold the licence. 10
69 Surrender of licence 11
A licence holder may, with the regulator's consent, surrender the licence. 12
70 Transfer of licences 13
(1) The licence holder and another person (the "transferee") may jointly 14
apply to the regulator for the licence to be transferred from the licence 15
holder to the transferee. 16
(2) The application must be in writing, and must contain-- 17
(a) the information, if any, prescribed under a regulation; and 18
(b) the information specified in writing by the regulator. 19
(3) The regulator must not transfer the licence unless the regulator is 20
satisfied that if the licence is transferred, any risks posed by the dealings 21
authorised by the licence will continue to be able to be managed in a way 22
that protects-- 23
(a) the health and safety of people; and 24
(b) the environment. 25
(4) The regulator must not transfer the licence unless the regulator is 26
satisfied the transferee is a suitable person to hold the licence. 27
(5) The regulator must give written notice of the regulator's decision on 28
the application to the licence holder and the transferee. 29
(6) If the regulator decides to transfer the licence-- 30
(a) the transfer takes effect on the date stated in the notice; and 31
s 71 43 s 72
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) the licence continues in force under section 60;2 and 1
(c) the licence is subject to the same conditions as those in force 2
immediately before the transfer. 3
71 Variation of licence 4
(1) The regulator may, at any time, by written notice given to the licence 5
holder, vary the licence. 6
(2) However, the regulator must not vary a licence to authorise dealings 7
involving the intentional release of a GMO into the environment if the 8
application for the licence was originally considered under division 3. 9
(3) Without limiting subsection (1), the regulator may-- 10
(a) impose licence conditions or additional licence conditions; or 11
(b) remove or vary licence conditions imposed by the regulator; or 12
(c) extend or reduce the authority granted by the licence. 13
(4) However, the regulator must not vary the licence unless the regulator 14
is satisfied that any risks posed by the proposed dealings as varied are able 15
to be managed in a way that protects-- 16
(a) the health and safety of people; and 17
(b) the environment. 18
19
Note for subsection (2)--
20
Applications may only be considered under division 3 if none of the proposed dealings
21
would involve the intentional release of a GMO into the environment.
72 Regulator to notify of proposed suspension, cancellation or 22
variation 23
(1) Before suspending, cancelling or varying a licence under this 24
division, the regulator must give written notice of the proposed suspension, 25
cancellation or variation to the licence holder. 26
(2) The notice-- 27
(a) must state that the regulator proposes to suspend, cancel or vary 28
the licence; and 29
2 Section 60 (Period of licence)
s 72A 44 s 72A
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) may require the licence holder to give to the regulator any 1
information of a kind stated in the notice that is relevant to the 2
proposed suspension, cancellation or variation; and 3
(c) may invite the licence holder to make a written submission to the 4
regulator about the proposed suspension, cancellation or 5
variation. 6
(3) The notice must state a period within which the licence holder-- 7
(a) must give the information mentioned in subsection (2)(b); and 8
(b) may make a submission under subsection (2)(c). 9
(3A) The period must not end earlier than 30 days after the day on which 10
the notice was given. 11
(4) In considering whether to suspend, cancel or vary a licence, the 12
regulator must have regard to any submission made under 13
subsection (2)(c). 14
(5) This section does not apply to a suspension, cancellation or variation 15
requested by the licence holder. 16
(6) This section does not apply to a suspension, cancellation or variation 17
of a licence if the regulator considers the suspension, cancellation or 18
variation is necessary to avoid an imminent risk of death, serious illness, 19
serious injury or serious damage to the environment. 20
Division 8--Annual charge 21
72A GMO licence--annual charge 22
(1) A person who is the holder of a GMO licence at any time during a 23
financial year is liable to pay a charge for the licence for that year. 24
(2) The amount of the charge for a financial year is the amount 25
prescribed under a regulation. 26
(3) The amount prescribed may be in the nature of a tax and not be 27
related to the cost of providing any service. 28
29
Note--
30
This section does not appear in the Commonwealth Act. Provision is included,
31
however, in the Gene Technology (Licence Charges) Act 2000 (Cwlth) for the
32
imposition of an annual charge for a GMO licence.
s 73 45 s 74
Gene Technology Bill 2001
PART 6--REGULATION OF NOTIFIABLE LOW RISK 1
DEALINGS AND DEALINGS ON THE GMO REGISTER 2
Division 1--Simplified outline 3
73 Simplified outline of pt 6 4
In outline, this part-- 5
(a) establishes a mechanism for the regulations to regulate certain 6
dealings with GMOs ("notifiable low risk dealings") not 7
involving the intentional release of GMOs into the environment 8
(see division 2); and 9
(b) provides that the regulations may, among other things, require 10
that the regulator be notified of the dealings; and 11
(c) enables the regulator to determine that certain dealings 12
previously authorised by a licence be included on the 13
GMO Register; and 14
(d) ensures that, if a dealing is included on the GMO register, anyone 15
may undertake the dealing, subject to stated conditions. 16
17
Note--
18
This section differs from section 73 of the Commonwealth Act.
Division 2--Notifiable low risk dealings 19
74 Notifiable low risk dealings 20
(1) A regulation may declare a dealing with a GMO to be a notifiable low 21
risk dealing for this Act. 22
(2) Before the regulation is made, the regulator must be satisfied the 23
dealing would not involve the intentional release of a GMO into the 24
environment. 25
(3) Also, before the regulation is made, the regulator must consider the 26
following matters-- 27
(a) whether the GMO is biologically contained so it is not able to 28
survive or reproduce without human intervention; 29
s 75 46 s 76
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) whether the dealing with the GMO would involve minimal risk to 1
the health and safety of people and to the environment, taking 2
into account the properties of the GMO as a pathogen or pest and 3
the toxicity of any proteins produced by the GMO; 4
(c) whether no conditions, or minimal conditions, would be 5
necessary to be prescribed to manage any risk mentioned in 6
paragraph (b). 7
8
Notes--
9
1. This section differs from section 74 of the Commonwealth Act.
10
2. For provisions corresponding to section 74(4) of the Commonwealth Act, see the
11
Statutory Instruments Act 1992, section 25.
75 Regulation of notifiable low risk dealings 12
(1) A regulation may regulate-- 13
(a) a stated notifiable low risk dealing; or 14
(b) a stated class of notifiable low risk dealings; 15
for protecting the health and safety of people or the environment. 16
(2) A regulation may prescribe different requirements to be complied 17
with in different situations or by different persons, including requirements 18
for the following-- 19
(a) the class of person who may undertake notifiable low risk 20
dealings; 21
(b) notifying the regulator of notifiable low risk dealings; 22
(c) supervision by institutional biosafety committees of notifiable 23
low risk dealings; 24
(d) the containment level of facilities in which notifiable low risk 25
dealings may be undertaken. 26
Division 3--The GMO register 27
76 GMO register 28
29
Note--
30
Section 76 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the establishment and maintenance
31
of the GMO register.
s 77 47 s 79
Gene Technology Bill 2001
77 Contents of register 1
If the regulator determines under section 78 that a dealing with a GMO 2
must be included on the GMO register, the regulator must state in the GMO 3
register-- 4
(a) a description of the dealing; and 5
(b) any condition to which the dealing is subject. 6
78 Regulator may include dealings with GMOs on GMO register 7
(1) The regulator may, by writing, determine that a dealing with a GMO 8
must be included on the GMO register if the regulator is satisfied-- 9
(a) the dealing is, or has been, authorised by a GMO licence; or 10
(b) the GMO concerned-- 11
(i) is a GM product; and 12
(ii) is a GMO only because of a regulation made under the 13
definition "genetically modified organism", paragraph (c). 14
(2) A determination under subsection (1) may be made-- 15
(a) on application by the holder of a licence authorising the dealing; 16
or 17
(b) on the regulator's own initiative. 18
(3) A determination under subsection (1) comes into effect on the day 19
stated in the determination. 20
(4) If the determination was made on application by the holder of a 21
GMO licence authorising the dealing, the day must not be before the 22
licence ceases to be in force. 23
24
Note--
25
Section 78(4) of the Commonwealth Act provides for determinations to be disallowable
26
instruments.
79 Regulator not to make determination unless risks can be managed 27
(1) The regulator must not make a determination under section 78(1) 28
about a dealing with a GMO unless the regulator is satisfied that-- 29
(a) any risks posed by the dealing are minimal; and 30
s 80 48 s 81
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) it is not necessary for persons undertaking the dealing to hold, or 1
be covered by, a GMO licence, in order to protect the health and 2
safety of people or to protect the environment. 3
(2) For subsection (1), the regulator must have regard to the following-- 4
(a) any data available to the regulator about adverse effects posed by 5
the dealing; 6
(b) any other information as to risks associated with the dealing of 7
which the regulator is aware, including information given to the 8
regulator by a licence holder under section 65 or by another 9
person under section 66; 10
(c) whether there is a need for the dealing to be subject to 11
conditions; 12
(d) any other information about whether the dealing should be 13
authorised by a GMO licence. 14
(3) The regulator may have regard to any other matters the regulator 15
considers relevant. 16
80 Variation of GMO register 17
(1) The regulator may vary the GMO register by written determination. 18
(2) A variation may-- 19
(a) remove a dealing from the GMO register; or 20
(b) revoke or vary conditions to which a dealing on the GMO 21
register is subject; or 22
(c) impose additional conditions to which a dealing on the GMO 23
register is subject. 24
25
Note--
26
Section 80(3) of the Commonwealth Act provides for determinations to be disallowable
27
instruments.
81 Inspection of register 28
29
Note--
30
Section 81 of the Commonwealth Act requires the regulator to permit any person to
31
inspect the GMO register.
s 82 49 s 84
Gene Technology Bill 2001
PART 7--CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION 1
Division 1--Simplified outline 2
82 Simplified outline of pt 7 3
(1) In outline, this part establishes a system under which the regulator 4
may certify facilities to stated containment levels under guidelines issued 5
by the regulator. 6
(2) Licence conditions may require that facilities be certified to stated 7
containment levels (see division 2). 8
(3) Also, this part enables the regulator to accredit organisations under 9
accreditation guidelines issued by the regulator. 10
(4) Licence conditions may state that dealings must be supervised by an 11
institutional biosafety committee established by an accredited organisation 12
(see division 3). 13
Division 2--Certification 14
83 Application for certification 15
(1) A person may apply to the regulator for certification of a facility to a 16
particular containment level. 17
(2) The application must be in writing and must contain the information 18
the regulator requires. 19
(3) The application must be accompanied by the application fee, if any, 20
prescribed under a regulation. 21
22
Note--
23
The conditions of a licence may require that a facility be certified under this division.
84 When the regulator may certify the facility 24
The regulator may, in writing, certify the facility to a stated containment 25
level if the facility meets the containment requirements stated in guidelines 26
issued by the regulator under section 90. 27
s 85 50 s 89
Gene Technology Bill 2001
85 Regulator may require applicant to give further information 1
(1) The regulator may, by written notice, require an applicant for 2
certification of a facility to give the regulator any further information about 3
the application as the regulator requires. 4
(2) The notice may state the period within which the information must 5
be given. 6
86 Conditions of certification 7
The certification of a facility is subject to the following conditions-- 8
(a) any conditions imposed by the regulator at the time of 9
certification; 10
(b) any conditions imposed by the regulator under section 87 after 11
certification; 12
(c) any conditions prescribed under a regulation. 13
87 Variation of certification 14
(1) The regulator may, at any time, by written notice given to the holder 15
of the certification, vary the certification of a facility. 16
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the regulator may-- 17
(a) impose additional conditions; or 18
(b) remove or vary conditions imposed by the regulator. 19
88 Suspension or cancellation of certification 20
The regulator may, by written notice given to the holder of the 21
certification, suspend or cancel the certification of a facility if the regulator 22
reasonably believes a condition of the certification has been contravened. 23
89 Regulator to notify of proposed suspension, cancellation or 24
variation 25
(1) Before suspending, cancelling or varying a certification, the regulator 26
must give written notice of the proposed suspension, cancellation or 27
variation to the holder of the certification. 28
s 90 51 s 90
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(2) The notice-- 1
(a) must state that the regulator proposes to suspend, cancel or vary 2
the certification; and 3
(b) may require the holder of the certification to give to the regulator 4
any information of a kind stated in the notice that is relevant to 5
the proposed suspension, cancellation or variation; and 6
(c) may invite the holder of the certification to make a written 7
submission to the regulator about the proposed suspension, 8
cancellation or variation. 9
(3) The notice must state a period within which the holder of the 10
certification-- 11
(a) must give the information mentioned in subsection (2)(b); and 12
(b) may make a submission under subsection (2)(c). 13
(3A) The period must not end earlier than 30 days after the day on which 14
the notice was given. 15
(4) In considering whether to suspend, cancel or vary a certification, the 16
regulator must have regard to any submission made under 17
subsection (2)(c). 18
(5) This section does not apply to a suspension, cancellation or variation 19
requested by the holder of the certification. 20
(6) This section does not apply to a suspension, cancellation or variation 21
of a certification if the regulator considers the suspension, cancellation or 22
variation is necessary to avoid an imminent risk of death, serious illness, 23
serious injury or serious damage to the environment. 24
90 Guidelines 25
(1) The regulator may issue written technical or procedural guidelines 26
about the requirements for the certification of facilities to stated 27
containment levels. 28
(2) The regulator may, in writing, vary or revoke the guidelines. 29
s 91 52 s 93
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 3--Accredited organisations 1
91 Application for accreditation 2
(1) A person may apply to the regulator for accreditation of an 3
organisation as an accredited organisation. 4
(2) The application must be in writing, and must contain the information 5
the regulator requires. 6
7
Note--
8
The conditions of a licence may require supervision of dealings by an institutional
9
biosafety committee established by an accredited organisation (see section 62(2)(m)),
10
and a regulation may require supervision by a committee of that kind of notifiable low
11
risk dealings (see section 75(2)(c)).
92 Regulator may accredit organisations 12
(1) The regulator may, in writing, accredit an organisation as an 13
accredited organisation. 14
(2) In deciding whether to accredit an organisation, the regulator must 15
have regard to each of the following-- 16
(a) whether the organisation has established, or proposes to 17
establish, an institutional biosafety committee under guidelines 18
issued by the regulator under section 98; 19
(b) whether the organisation will be able to maintain an institutional 20
biosafety committee under the guidelines; 21
(c) whether the organisation has, or will have, appropriate indemnity 22
arrangements for its institutional biosafety committee members; 23
(d) any other matters stated in the guidelines. 24
93 Regulator may require applicant to give further information 25
(1) The regulator may, by written notice, require an applicant for 26
accreditation of an organisation to give the regulator any further 27
information about the application as the regulator requires. 28
(2) The notice may state the period within which the information must 29
be given. 30
s 94 53 s 97
Gene Technology Bill 2001
94 Conditions of accreditation 1
The accreditation of an accredited organisation is subject to the 2
following conditions-- 3
(a) any conditions imposed by the regulator at the time of 4
accreditation; 5
(b) any conditions imposed by the regulator under section 95 after 6
accreditation; 7
(c) any conditions prescribed under a regulation. 8
95 Variation of accreditation 9
(1) The regulator may, at any time, by written notice given to an 10
accredited organisation, vary the organisation's accreditation. 11
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the regulator may-- 12
(a) impose additional conditions on the accreditation; or 13
(b) remove or vary conditions imposed by the regulator. 14
96 Suspension or cancellation of accreditation 15
The regulator may, by written notice given to an accredited organisation, 16
suspend or cancel the accreditation if the regulator reasonably believes a 17
condition of the accreditation has been contravened. 18
97 Regulator to notify of proposed suspension, cancellation or 19
variation 20
(1) Before suspending, cancelling or varying an accreditation, the 21
regulator must give written notice of the proposed suspension, cancellation 22
or variation to the holder of the accreditation. 23
(2) The notice-- 24
(a) must state that the regulator proposes to suspend, cancel or vary 25
the accreditation; and 26
(b) may require the holder of the accreditation to give to the 27
regulator any information of a kind stated in the notice that is 28
relevant to the proposed suspension, cancellation or variation; 29
and 30
s 98 54 s 98
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(c) may invite the holder to make a written submission to the 1
regulator about the proposed suspension, cancellation or 2
variation. 3
(3) The notice must state a period within which the holder of the 4
accreditation-- 5
(a) must give the information mentioned in subsection (2)(b); and 6
(b) may make a submission under subsection (2)(c). 7
(3A) The period must not end earlier than 30 days after the day on which 8
the notice was given. 9
(4) In considering whether to suspend, cancel or vary an accreditation, 10
the regulator must have regard to any submission made under 11
subsection (2)(c). 12
(5) This section does not apply to a suspension, cancellation or variation 13
requested by the holder of the accreditation. 14
(6) This section does not apply to a suspension, cancellation or variation 15
of an accreditation if the regulator considers the suspension, cancellation or 16
variation is necessary to avoid an imminent risk of death, serious illness, 17
serious injury or serious damage to the environment. 18
98 Guidelines 19
(1) The regulator may issue written technical or procedural guidelines 20
about requirements that must be met for an organisation to be accredited 21
under this division. 22
(2) The guidelines may be about, but are not limited to, matters about 23
establishing and maintaining institutional biosafety committees. 24
(3) The regulator may, in writing, vary or revoke the guidelines. 25
s 99 55 s 101
Gene Technology Bill 2001
PART 8--THE GENE TECHNOLOGY TECHNICAL 1
ADVISORY COMMITTEE, THE GENE TECHNOLOGY 2
COMMUNITY CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE AND 3
THE GENE TECHNOLOGY ETHICS COMMITTEE 4
Division 1--Simplified outline 5
99 Simplified outline of pt 8 6
In outline, this part states the functions under this Act of the following 7
committees-- 8
(a) the gene technology technical advisory committee; 9
(b) the gene technology community consultative committee; 10
(c) the gene technology ethics committee. 11
12
Note--
13
This section differs from section 99 of the Commonwealth Act.
Division 2--The gene technology technical advisory committee 14
100 The gene technology technical advisory committee 15
16
Note--
17
Section 100 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the establishment and membership
18
of the gene technology technical advisory committee.
101 Function of the gene technology technical advisory committee 19
The function of the gene technology technical advisory committee under 20
this Act is to provide scientific and technical advice, on the request of the 21
regulator or the Ministerial council, on the following-- 22
(a) gene technology, GMOs and GM products; 23
(b) applications made under this Act; 24
(c) the biosafety aspects of gene technology; 25
(d) the need for policy principles, policy guidelines, codes of 26
practice and technical and procedural guidelines about GMOs 27
s 102 56 s 106
Gene Technology Bill 2001
and GM products and the content of the principles, guidelines 1
and codes. 2
102 Expert advisers 3
4
Note--
5
Section 102 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the appointment of expert advisers
6
to the gene technology technical advisory committee.
103 Remuneration 7
8
Note--
9
Section 103 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the payment of remuneration and
10
allowances to members of, and expert advisers to, the gene technology technical
11
advisory committee.
104 Members and procedures 12
13
Note--
14
Section 104 of the Commonwealth Act empowers the making of regulations about the
15
membership and operation of the gene technology technical advisory committee.
105 Subcommittees 16
17
Note--
18
Section 105 of the Commonwealth Act deals with the establishment of subcommittees
19
by the gene technology technical advisory committee.
Division 3--The gene technology community consultative committee 20
106 The gene technology community consultative committee 21
22
Note--
23
Section 106 of the Commonwealth Act establishes the gene technology community
24
consultative committee.
s 107 57 s 110A
Gene Technology Bill 2001
107 Function of consultative committee 1
The function of the consultative committee under this Act is to provide 2
advice, on the request of the regulator or the Ministerial council, on the 3
following-- 4
(aa) matters of general concern identified by the regulator about 5
applications made under this Act; 6
(a) matters of general concern about GMOs; 7
(b) the need for policy principles, policy guidelines, codes of 8
practice and technical and procedural guidelines about GMOs 9
and GM products and the content of the principles, guidelines 10
and codes. 11
108 Membership 12
13
Note--
14
Section 108 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the membership of the consultative
15
committee.
109 Remuneration 16
17
Note--
18
Section 109 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the payment of remuneration and
19
allowances to members of the consultative committee.
110 Regulations 20
21
Note--
22
Section 110 of the Commonwealth Act empowers the making of regulations about the
23
membership and operation of the consultative committee.
110A Subcommittees 24
25
Note--
26
Section 110A of the Commonwealth Act deals with the establishment of
27
subcommittees by the consultative committee.
s 111 58 s 115
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 4--The gene technology ethics committee 1
111 The gene technology ethics committee 2
3
Note--
4
Section 111 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the establishment and membership
5
of the gene technology ethics committee.
112 Function of the gene technology ethics committee 6
The function of the gene technology ethics committee under this Act is to 7
provide advice, on the request of the regulator or the Ministerial council, on 8
the following-- 9
(a) ethical issues about gene technology; 10
(b) the need for, and content of, codes of practice about ethics for 11
conducting dealings with GMOs; 12
(c) the need for, and content of, policy principles about dealings with 13
GMOs that should not be conducted for ethical reasons. 14
113 Expert advisers 15
16
Note--
17
Section 113 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the appointment of expert advisers
18
to the ethics committee.
114 Remuneration 19
20
Note--
21
Section 114 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the payment of remuneration and
22
allowances to members of, and expert advisers to, the ethics committee.
115 Members and procedures 23
24
Note--
25
Section 115 of the Commonwealth Act empowers the making of regulations about the
26
membership and operation of the ethics committee.
s 116 59 s 119
Gene Technology Bill 2001
116 Subcommittees 1
2
Note--
3
Section 116 of the Commonwealth Act deals with the establishment of subcommittees
4
by the ethics committee.
PART 9--ADMINISTRATION 5
Division 1--Simplified outline 6
117 Simplified outline of pt 9 7
In outline, this part-- 8
(a) provides for financial matters (see division 3); and 9
(b) states reporting requirements (see division 5); and 10
(c) requires the regulator to ensure certain information is entered on 11
a record of GMOs and GM products (see division 6); and 12
(d) permits the regulator to review notifiable low risk dealings and 13
exemptions (see division 7). 14
15
Note--
16
This section differs from section 117 of the Commonwealth Act.
Division 2--Appointment and conditions of regulator 17
118 Appointment of the regulator 18
19
Note--
20
Section 118 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the appointment of the regulator.
119 Termination of appointment 21
22
Note--
23
Section 119 of the Commonwealth Act states the circumstances in which the
24
regulator's appointment may be terminated.
s 120 60 s 126
Gene Technology Bill 2001
120 Disclosure of interests 1
2
Note--
3
Section 120 of the Commonwealth Act requires the regulator to disclose his or her
4
interests to the Minister.
121 Acting appointment 5
6
Note--
7
Section 121 of the Commonwealth Act deals with the appointment of a person to act as
8
the regulator.
122 Terms and conditions 9
10
Note--
11
Section 122 of the Commonwealth Act deals with the terms and conditions of
12
appointment of the regulator.
123 Outside employment 13
14
Note--
15
Section 123 of the Commonwealth Act prohibits the regulator from engaging in paid
16
outside employment without the approval of the Minister.
124 Remuneration 17
18
Note--
19
Section 124 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the payment of remuneration and
20
allowances to the regulator.
125 Leave of absence 21
22
Note--
23
Section 125 of the Commonwealth Act deals with the entitlement of the regulator to
24
leave of absence.
126 Resignation 25
26
Note--
27
Section 126 of the Commonwealth Act deals with the procedure for resignation by the
28
regulator.
s 127 61 s 130
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 3--Money 1
127 Regulator may charge for services 2
The regulator may charge for services provided by, or for, the regulator 3
in performing the regulator's functions under this Act. 4
128 Notional payments by the State 5
(1) The purpose of this section is to ensure that fees and charges under 6
this Act are notionally payable by the State and entities representing the 7
State. 8
(2) The Minister responsible for administering the Financial 9
Administration and Audit Act 1977 may give written directions for this 10
section, including directions about transferring amounts within, or 11
between, accounts operated by the State. 12
13
Note--
14
This section differs from section 128 of the Commonwealth Act.
129 Gene technology account 15
16
Note--
17
Section 129 of the Commonwealth Act provides for the establishment of the gene
18
technology account.
130 Credits to gene technology account 19
(1) The following amounts must be paid to the Commonwealth for 20
crediting to the gene technology account-- 21
(a) amounts equal to amounts from time to time received by the 22
State under part 5, division 8;3 23
(b) amounts equal to fees received by the State under sections 40(6) 24
and 83(3);4 25
(c) amounts equal to amounts received by the State for the 26
performance of the regulator's functions under this Act; 27
3 Part 5 (Licensing system), division 8 (Annual charge)
4 Sections 40 (Person may apply for a licence) and 83 (Application for certification)
s 131 62 s 134
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(d) amounts equal to amounts recovered by the State under 1
section 146(5) or 158(4)5 to the extent the amounts are referable 2
to costs paid out of the gene technology account. 3
(2) The consolidated fund is appropriated to the extent necessary to 4
enable payment of amounts to the Commonwealth under subsection (1). 5
6
Note--
7
This section differs from section 130 of the Commonwealth Act.
131 Recovery of amounts 8
The following amounts may be recovered as debts due to the State-- 9
(a) amounts payable to the State under part 5, division 8; 10
(b) fees payable to the State under this Act; 11
(c) amounts payable to the State for the performance of the 12
regulator's functions under this Act. 13
132 Purposes of account 14
15
Note--
16
Section 132 of the Commonwealth Act states the purposes for which money in the gene
17
technology account may be spent.
Division 4--Staffing 18
133 Staff assisting the regulator 19
20
Note--
21
Section 133 of the Commonwealth Act provides for staff to be made available to assist
22
the regulator.
134 Consultants 23
24
Note--
25
Section 134 of the Commonwealth Act enables the regulator to engage consultants.
5 Section 146 (Regulator may give directions) or 158 (Powers available to inspectors
for dealing with dangerous situations)
s 135 63 s 136A
Gene Technology Bill 2001
135 Seconded officers 1
2
Note--
3
Section 135 of the Commonwealth Act provides for staff to be seconded to the
4
regulator.
Division 5--Reporting requirements 5
136 Annual report 6
(1) As soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, the 7
regulator must prepare and give to the Minister a report on the operations 8
of the regulator under this Act during that year. 9
(2) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be laid before the 10
Legislative Assembly within 14 sitting days after the Minister receives the 11
report. 12
13
Notes--
14
1. Section 136(2) of the Commonwealth Act refers to 15 sitting days.
15
2. Section 136(3) of the Commonwealth Act requires the regulator to give a copy of
16
the regulator's report under that section to each State.
136A Quarterly reports 17
(1) As soon as practicable after the end of each quarter, the regulator 18
must prepare and give to the Minister a report on the operations of the 19
regulator under this Act during the quarter. 20
(2) The report must include information about the following-- 21
(a) GMO licences issued during the quarter; 22
(b) any breaches of conditions of a GMO licence that have come to 23
the regulator's attention during the quarter; 24
(c) auditing and monitoring of dealings with GMOs under this Act 25
by the regulator or an inspector during the quarter. 26
(3) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be laid before the 27
Legislative Assembly within 14 sitting days after the Minister receives the 28
report. 29
(4) In this section-- 30
s 137 64 s 138
Gene Technology Bill 2001
"quarter" means a 3 month period starting on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1
1 October of any year. 2
3
Notes--
4
1. For subsection (2)(c) auditing and monitoring may include spot checks.
5
2. Section 136A(3) of the Commonwealth Act refers to 15 sitting days.
137 Reports to parliament 6
(1) The regulator may at any time cause a report about matters relating to 7
the regulator's functions under this Act to be laid before the Legislative 8
Assembly. 9
(2) The regulator must give a copy of the report to the Minister. 10
11
Note--
12
Section 137(2) of the Commonwealth Act requires the regulator to give a copy of the
13
regulator's report under that section to each State.
Division 6--Record of GMO and GM product dealings 14
138 Record of GMO and GM product dealings 15
(1) The GM record must contain the following information, other than 16
confidential commercial information, about each licence issued under 17
section 55-- 18
(a) the name of the licence holder; 19
(b) the persons covered by the licence; 20
(c) the dealings authorised by the licence and the GMO to which the 21
dealings relate; 22
(d) any licence conditions; 23
(e) the date on which the licence was issued, and its expiry date (if 24
any). 25
(2) The GM record must contain the following information, other than 26
confidential commercial information, about each notifiable low risk dealing 27
notified to the regulator under section 75(2)(b)6-- 28
6 Section 75 (Regulation of notifiable low risk dealings)
s 139 65 s 140
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) the name of the person who notified the dealing; 1
(b) the particulars of the dealing as are prescribed under a regulation 2
for this paragraph. 3
(3) The GM record must contain the information prescribed under a 4
regulation, other than confidential commercial information, about GM 5
products mentioned in a designated notification given to the regulator 6
under an Act. 7
(4) The GM record must also contain-- 8
(a) a description of each dealing on the GMO register; and 9
(b) any condition to which the dealing is subject. 10
(5) The regulator must ensure that information mentioned in 11
subsections (1) to (4) is entered on the GM record as soon as reasonably 12
practicable. 13
(6) In this section-- 14
"designated notification" means a notification required to be given to the 15
regulator under an Act or a law applying as a law of the State by force 16
of an Act. 17
18
Note--
19
This section differs from section 138 of the Commonwealth Act.
139 Inspection of GM record 20
21
Note--
22
Section 139 of the Commonwealth Act requires the regulator to permit any person to
23
inspect the GM record.
Division 7--Reviews of notifiable low risk dealings and exemptions 24
140 Regulator may review notifiable low risk dealings 25
(1) The regulator may, at any time, consider-- 26
(a) whether a dealing with a GMO should be a notifiable low risk 27
dealing; or 28
(b) whether an existing notifiable low risk dealing should no longer 29
be a notifiable low risk dealing. 30
s 141 66 s 143
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(2) The basis of the regulator's consideration must relate to-- 1
(a) the matters of which the regulator must be satisfied under 2
section 74(2);7 or 3
(b) the matters the regulator must consider under section 74(3). 4
141 Regulator may review exemptions 5
The regulator may, at any time, consider-- 6
(a) whether an exempt dealing should not be an exempt dealing; or 7
(b) whether a dealing should be an exempt dealing. 8
142 Regulator may give notice of consideration 9
(1) The regulator may publish a notice inviting written submissions 10
about any matter the regulator may consider under section 140 or 141. 11
(1A) The notice must state-- 12
(a) the matters to which submissions must relate; and 13
(b) the closing date for submissions, which must not be earlier than 14
30 days after the date on which the notice was published. 15
(2) If the regulator publishes a notice under subsection (1), the regulator 16
must also give written notice, stating the matters mentioned in 17
subsection (1A)(a), to the following-- 18
(a) each State; 19
(b) the gene technology technical advisory committee; 20
(c) each Commonwealth authority or agency prescribed under a 21
regulation for this paragraph. 22
(3) A notice under this section may be about a single matter or a class of 23
matters. 24
143 What regulator may do after consideration 25
(1) If-- 26
7 Section 74 (Notifiable low risk dealings)
s 144 67 s 145
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) the matter is about whether a dealing should be a notifiable low 1
risk dealing; and 2
(b) the regulator is satisfied as mentioned in section 74(2); and 3
(c) the regulator has considered the matters mentioned in 4
section 74(3); 5
the regulator may recommend to the Ministerial council that the dealing be 6
declared to be a notifiable low risk dealing. 7
(2) If-- 8
(a) the matter is about whether an existing notifiable low risk dealing 9
be reconsidered; and 10
(b) after having had regard to the matters mentioned in section 74, 11
the regulator considers the dealing should not be a notifiable low 12
risk dealing; 13
the regulator may recommend to the Ministerial council that the regulations 14
be amended accordingly. 15
(3) If the matter is about whether a dealing-- 16
(a) should be an exempt dealing; or 17
(b) should cease to be an exempt dealing; 18
the regulator may recommend to the Ministerial council that the regulations 19
be amended accordingly. 20
144 Regulator not required to review matters 21
Nothing in this division requires the regulator to consider a matter under 22
section 140 or 141. 23
PART 10--ENFORCEMENT 24
145 Simplified outline of pt 10 25
In outline, this part-- 26
(a) enables the regulator to give directions to a licence holder or to a 27
person covered by a licence if-- 28
s 146 68 s 146
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(i) the regulator believes the person is not complying with this 1
Act; and 2
(ii) the regulator believes it is necessary to give the directions to 3
protect the health and safety of people or to protect the 4
environment; and 5
(b) empowers the Supreme Court to issue injunctions, and contains a 6
forfeiture provision. 7
8
Note--
9
This section differs from section 145 of the Commonwealth Act.
146 Regulator may give directions 10
(1) If the regulator reasonably believes-- 11
(a) a licence holder is not complying with this Act about a thing; and 12
(b) it is necessary to exercise powers under this section to protect the 13
health and safety of people or to protect the environment; 14
the regulator, by written notice, may direct the licence holder, within the 15
time stated in the notice, to take the steps relating to the thing as are 16
reasonable in the circumstances for the licence holder to comply with this 17
Act. 18
(2) If the regulator reasonably believes-- 19
(a) a person covered by a GMO licence is not complying with this 20
Act about a thing; and 21
(b) it is necessary to exercise powers under this section to protect the 22
health and safety of people or to protect the environment; 23
the regulator, by written notice, may direct the person to take the steps 24
relating to the thing as are reasonable in the circumstances for the person to 25
comply with this Act. 26
(3) A person must take the steps stated in a notice under subsection (1) 27
or (2) within the time stated in the notice. 28
Maximum penalty-- 29
(a) for an aggravated offence--2 933 penalty units; 30
(b) otherwise--733 penalty units. 31
s 147 69 s 147
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(4) If the licence holder or person does not take the steps stated in the 1
notice within the time stated in the notice, the regulator may arrange for the 2
steps to be taken. 3
(5) If the regulator incurs costs because of arrangements made by the 4
regulator under subsection (4), the licence holder or person is liable to pay 5
to the State an amount equal to the cost, and the amount may be recovered 6
by the State as a debt due to the State. 7
(6) A time stated in a notice under subsection (1) or (2) must be 8
reasonable having regard to the circumstances. 9
10
Note--
11
This section differs from section 146 of the Commonwealth Act.
147 Injunctions 12
(1) If a person has engaged, is engaging, or is about to engage in conduct 13
that is or would be an offence against this Act, the Supreme Court 14
(the "court") may, on the application of the regulator or any other 15
aggrieved person, grant an injunction restraining the person from engaging 16
in the conduct. 17
(2) If-- 18
(a) a person has refused or failed, is refusing or failing, or is about to 19
refuse or fail, to do a thing; and 20
(b) the refusal or failure is, or would be, an offence against this Act; 21
the court may, on the application of the regulator or any other aggrieved 22
person, grant an injunction requiring the person to do the thing. 23
(3) The power of the court to grant an injunction may be exercised-- 24
(a) whether or not it appears to the court that the person intends to 25
engage, or to continue to engage, in conduct of that kind; and 26
(b) whether or not the person has previously engaged in conduct of 27
that kind. 28
(4) The court may discharge or vary an injunction granted under this 29
section. 30
(5) The court may grant an interim injunction pending a determination of 31
an application under subsection (1). 32
(6) The powers granted by this section are in addition to, and not in 33
derogation of, any other powers of the court. 34
s 148 70 s 149
Gene Technology Bill 2001
1
Note--
2
Section 147 of the Commonwealth Act confers a similar power to grant injunctions on
3
the Federal Court.
148 Forfeiture 4
(1) If a court finds a person guilty of an offence against this Act, the 5
court may order forfeiture to the State of any thing used or otherwise 6
involved in the commission of the offence. 7
(2) A thing ordered by a court to be forfeited under this section becomes 8
the property of the State and may be sold or otherwise dealt with as 9
directed by the regulator. 10
(3) Until the regulator gives a direction, the thing must be kept in 11
custody as the regulator directs. 12
13
Note--
14
This section differs from section 148 of the Commonwealth Act.
PART 11--POWERS OF INSPECTION 15
Division 1--Simplified outline 16
149 Simplified outline of pt 11 17
In outline, this part-- 18
(a) provides for powers of inspection for monitoring and offences; 19
and 20
(b) provides for the appointment of inspectors (see division 2); and 21
(c) deals with the powers and obligations of inspectors and the rights 22
and responsibilities of an occupier of premises when an inspector 23
seeks to exercise powers (see divisions 3 to 9); and 24
(d) states procedures for monitoring warrants and offence-related 25
warrants (see division 10); and 26
s 150 71 s 151
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(e) does not limit the conditions to which a licence may be subject, 1
and section 648 imposes a condition about monitoring dealings 2
with GMOs. 3
Division 2--Appointment of inspectors and identity cards 4
150 Appointment of inspectors 5
(1) The regulator may, in writing, appoint any of the following persons 6
as an inspector-- 7
(a) a public service employee; 8
(b) a person who is appointed or employed by the Commonwealth. 9
(2) In exercising powers or performing functions as an inspector, an 10
inspector must comply with any directions of the regulator. 11
12
Note--
13
This section differs from section 150 of the Commonwealth Act.
151 Identity card 14
(1) The regulator must issue an identity card to an inspector. 15
(2) The identity card-- 16
(a) must be in the approved form; and 17
(b) must contain a recent photograph of the inspector. 18
(3) If a person to whom an identity card has been issued ceases to be an 19
inspector, the person must return the identity card to the regulator as soon 20
as practicable. 21
Maximum penalty--1 penalty unit. 22
(4) An inspector must carry his or her identity card at all times when 23
exercising powers or performing functions as an inspector. 24
25
Note--
26
This section differs from section 151 of the Commonwealth Act in that the form is
27
approved by the chief executive under section 192G.
8 Section 64 (Condition about monitoring and audits)
s 152 72 s 153
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 3--Monitoring powers 1
152 Powers available to inspectors for monitoring compliance 2
(1) For monitoring compliance with this Act, an inspector may-- 3
(a) enter any premises; and 4
(b) exercise the monitoring powers stated in section 153. 5
(2) An inspector may enter premises under subsection (1) only if-- 6
(a) the occupier of the premises has consented to the entry; or 7
(b) the entry is made under a warrant under section 172; or 8
(c) it is a licence holder's place of business mentioned in the licence 9
and is-- 10
(i) open for carrying on the business; or 11
(ii) otherwise open for entry; or 12
(iii) required to be open for inspection under the licence. 13
(3) For the purpose of asking the occupier of premises for consent to 14
enter, an inspector may, without the occupier's consent or a warrant-- 15
(a) enter land around the premises to an extent that is reasonable to 16
contact the occupier; or 17
(b) enter part of the place the inspector reasonably considers 18
members of the public ordinarily are allowed to enter when they 19
wish to contact the occupier. 20
(4) For subsection (2)(c), a place of business does not include a part of 21
the premises where a person resides. 22
23
Note--
24
This section differs from section 152 of the Commonwealth Act.
153 Monitoring powers 25
(1) The monitoring powers an inspector may exercise under 26
section 152(1)(b) are as follows-- 27
(a) to search the premises and anything on the premises; 28
(b) to inspect, examine, take measurements of, conduct tests on, or 29
take samples of, anything on the premises relating to a GMO; 30
s 153 73 s 153
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(c) to take photographs, make video or audio recordings or make 1
sketches of the premises or anything on the premises; 2
(d) if the inspector was authorised to enter the premises by a warrant 3
under section 172--to require any person in or on the premises 4
to-- 5
(i) answer any questions put by the inspector; and 6
(ii) produce any document requested by the inspector; 7
(e) to inspect any document on the premises; 8
(f) to take extracts from or make copies of any document on the 9
premises; 10
(g) to take onto the premises the equipment and materials the 11
inspector requires for the purpose of exercising powers relating 12
to the premises; 13
(h) to secure a thing, until a warrant is obtained to seize it, being a 14
thing the inspector-- 15
(i) finds during the exercise of monitoring powers on the 16
premises; and 17
(ii) reasonably believes is evidential material; and 18
(iii) reasonably believes would be lost, destroyed or tampered 19
with before the warrant can be obtained. 20
(2) Monitoring powers include the power to operate equipment at 21
premises to see whether-- 22
(a) the equipment; or 23
(b) a disk, tape or other storage device that-- 24
(i) is at the premises; and 25
(ii) can be used with the equipment or is associated with it; 26
contains information relevant to deciding whether this Act has been 27
complied with. 28
(3) If the inspector, after operating equipment at the premises, finds the 29
equipment, or a tape, disk or other storage device at the premises, contains 30
information mentioned in subsection (2), the inspector may-- 31
(a) operate facilities at the premises to put the information in 32
documentary form and copy the document so produced; or 33
s 154 74 s 155
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) if the information can be transferred to a tape, disk or other 1
storage device that-- 2
(i) is brought to the premises; or 3
(ii) is at the premises and the use of which for the purpose has 4
been agreed to in writing by the occupier of the premises; 5
operate the equipment or other facilities to copy the information 6
to the storage device, and remove the storage device from the 7
premises. 8
Division 4--Offence-related powers 9
154 Searches and seizures related to offences 10
(1) This section applies if an inspector reasonably suspects there may be 11
evidential material on any premises. 12
(2) The inspector may-- 13
(a) enter the premises, with the occupier's consent or under a 14
warrant issued under section 173; and 15
(b) exercise the powers stated in subsection (3) and section 155; and 16
(c) if the entry is under a warrant and the inspector finds evidential 17
material on the premises--seize the material. 18
(3) If-- 19
(a) in the course of searching under a warrant for a particular thing, 20
an inspector finds another thing that the inspector reasonably 21
believes to be evidential material; and 22
(b) the inspector reasonably believes it is necessary to seize the other 23
thing to prevent its concealment, loss or destruction, or its use in 24
committing, continuing or repeating an offence against this Act; 25
the warrant is taken to authorise the inspector to seize the other thing. 26
155 Offence-related powers of inspectors for premises 27
The powers an inspector may exercise under section 154(2)(b) are as 28
follows-- 29
s 156 75 s 156
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) to search the premises and anything on the premises for the 1
evidential material; 2
(b) to inspect, examine, take measurements of, conduct tests on, or 3
take samples of the evidential material; 4
(c) to take photographs, make video or audio recordings or make 5
sketches of the premises or the evidential material; 6
(d) to take onto the premises the equipment and materials the 7
inspector requires for exercising powers relating to the premises. 8
156 Use of equipment at premises 9
(1) The inspector may operate equipment at the premises to see whether 10
evidential material is accessible by doing so, if the inspector reasonably 11
believes the equipment can be operated without damaging the equipment. 12
(2) If the inspector, after operating the equipment, finds that evidential 13
material is accessible by doing so, the inspector may do any of the 14
following-- 15
(a) seize the equipment and any disk, tape or other associated 16
device; or 17
(b) if the material can, by using facilities at the premises, be put in 18
documentary form--operate the facilities to put the material in 19
documentary form and seize the documents so produced; or 20
(c) if the material can be transferred to a disk, tape or other storage 21
device that-- 22
(i) is brought to the premises; or 23
(ii) is at the premises and the use of which for the purpose has 24
been agreed to in writing by the occupier of the premises-- 25
operate the equipment or other facilities to copy the material to 26
the storage device and take the storage device from the premises. 27
(3) An inspector may seize equipment under subsection (2)(a) only if-- 28
(a) it is not practicable to put the material in documentary form as 29
mentioned in subsection (2)(b) or to copy the material as 30
mentioned in subsection (2)(c); or 31
(b) possession by the occupier of the equipment could constitute an 32
offence. 33
s 157 76 s 157
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(4) An inspector may seize equipment under subsection (2)(a) or 1
documents under subsection (2)(b) only if the inspector entered the 2
premises under a warrant. 3
Division 5--Expert assistance 4
157 Expert assistance to operate a thing 5
(1) If an inspector reasonably believes-- 6
(a) information relevant to deciding whether there has been 7
compliance with this Act, or evidential material, may be 8
accessible by operating a thing at particular premises; and 9
(b) expert assistance is required to operate the thing; and 10
(c) if the inspector does not take action under this subsection, the 11
information or material may be destroyed, altered or otherwise 12
interfered with; 13
the inspector may do whatever is necessary to secure the thing, whether by 14
locking it up, placing a guard or otherwise. 15
(2) The inspector must give notice to the occupier of the premises of the 16
inspector's intention to secure the thing and of the fact that the thing may 17
be secured for up to 24 hours. 18
(3) The thing may be secured until the first of the following happens-- 19
(a) 24 hours passes after the thing is secured; 20
(b) the equipment has been operated by the expert. 21
(4) If the inspector reasonably believes the expert assistance will not be 22
available within 24 hours, the inspector may apply to a Magistrates Court 23
for an extension of the period. 24
(5) The inspector must give notice to the occupier of the premises of the 25
inspector's intention to apply for an extension, and the occupier is entitled 26
to be heard in relation to the application. 27
s 158 77 s 158
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 6--Emergency powers 1
158 Powers available to inspectors for dealing with dangerous 2
situations 3
(1) This section applies if-- 4
(a) an inspector reasonably suspects there may be on any premises a 5
particular thing in relation to which this Act has not been 6
complied with; and 7
(b) the inspector considers it is necessary to exercise powers under 8
this section to avoid an imminent risk of death, serious illness, 9
serious injury, or to protect the environment. 10
(2) The inspector may do any of the following-- 11
(a) enter the premises; 12
(b) search the premises for the thing; 13
(c) secure the thing, if the inspector finds it on the premises, until a 14
warrant is obtained to seize the thing; 15
(d) if the inspector reasonably suspects a person has not complied 16
with this Act about the thing--require the person to take the steps 17
the inspector considers necessary for the person to comply with 18
this Act; 19
(e) take the steps, or arrange for the steps to be taken, relating to the 20
thing as the inspector considers appropriate. 21
(3) The inspector may exercise the powers in subsection (2) only to the 22
extent necessary for avoiding an imminent risk of death, serious illness, 23
serious injury or serious damage to the environment. 24
(4) If the regulator incurs costs because of steps reasonably taken or 25
arranged to be taken by an inspector under subsection (2)(e), the person 26
mentioned in subsection (2)(d) is liable to pay to the State an amount equal 27
to the cost, and the amount may be recovered by the State as a debt due to 28
the State. 29
s 159 78 s 162
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 7--Obligations and incidental powers of inspectors 1
159 Inspector must produce identity card on request 2
An inspector is not entitled to exercise any powers under this part 3
relating to premises if-- 4
(a) the occupier of the premises has required the inspector to 5
produce the inspector's identity card for inspection by the 6
occupier; and 7
(b) the inspector fails to comply with the requirement. 8
160 Consent 9
(1) Before obtaining the consent of a person for an entry to premises 10
under section 152(2)(a) or 154(2)(a),9 the inspector must inform the person 11
that the person may refuse consent. 12
(2) An entry of an inspector with the consent of a person is not lawful 13
unless the person voluntarily consented to the entry. 14
161 Details of warrant to be given to occupier etc. 15
(1) If a warrant relating to premises is being executed and the occupier of 16
the premises or another person who apparently represents the occupier is 17
present at the premises, the inspector must make available to the person 18
present a copy of the warrant. 19
(2) The inspector must identify himself or herself to the person. 20
(3) The copy of the warrant need not include the signature of the 21
magistrate who issued the warrant. 22
162 Announcement before entry 23
(1) An inspector must, before entering premises under a warrant-- 24
(a) announce that the inspector is authorised to enter the premises; 25
and 26
9 Section 152 (Powers available to inspectors for monitoring compliance) or
154 (Searches and seizures related to offences)
s 163 79 s 163
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) give any person at the premises an opportunity to allow entry to 1
the premises. 2
(2) An inspector is not required to comply with subsection (1) if the 3
inspector reasonably believes immediate entry to the premises is 4
required-- 5
(a) to ensure the safety of a person; or 6
(b) to prevent serious damage to the environment; or 7
(c) to ensure the effective execution of the warrant is not frustrated. 8
163 Compensation for damage 9
(1) The owner of a thing is entitled to compensation for damage to the 10
thing if-- 11
(a) the damage was caused to the thing as a result of it being 12
operated under this part; and 13
(b) the damage was caused as a result of-- 14
(i) insufficient care being exercised in selecting the person who 15
was to operate the thing; or 16
(ii) insufficient care being exercised by the person operating the 17
thing. 18
(2) Compensation is payable by the regulator. 19
(3) In deciding the amount of compensation payable, regard must be had 20
to whether the occupier of the premises and the occupier's employees and 21
agents, if they were available at the time, had provided any warning or 22
guidance as to the operation of the thing that was appropriate in the 23
circumstances. 24
25
Note--
26
Section 163(2) of the Commonwealth Act provides for compensation to be payable out
27
of money appropriated by the Commonwealth Parliament.
s 164 80 s 166
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Division 8--Power to search goods, baggage etc. 1
164 Power to search goods, baggage etc. 2
(1) This section applies to any goods that are to be, are being, or have 3
been, taken off a ship that voyages, or an aircraft that flies, between a place 4
outside the State and a place in the State. 5
(2) If an inspector reasonably believes the goods are goods to which this 6
section applies, and that the goods may be, or may contain, evidential 7
material, the inspector may do any of the following-- 8
(a) examine the goods; 9
(b) if the goods are baggage--open and search the baggage; 10
(c) if the goods are in a container--open and search the container. 11
(3) An inspector may ask a person who owns, is carrying or is otherwise 12
associated with, or appears to the inspector to be associated with, goods to 13
which this section applies any question about the goods. 14
(4) A person must not refuse or fail to answer a question put to the 15
person under subsection (3) without a reasonable excuse. 16
Maximum penalty for subsection (4)--44 penalty units. 17
18
Note--
19
This section differs from section 164 of the Commonwealth Act.
165 Seizure of goods 20
An inspector may seize goods mentioned in section 164 if the inspector 21
reasonably suspects the goods are evidential material. 22
Division 9--General provisions relating to search and seizure 23
166 Copies of seized things to be provided 24
(1) Subject to subsection (2), if an inspector seizes, under a warrant 25
relating to premises-- 26
(a) a document, film, computer file or other thing that can be readily 27
copied; or 28
(b) a storage device, the information in which can be readily copied; 29
s 167 81 s 169
Gene Technology Bill 2001
the inspector must, if asked to do so by the occupier of the premises, or 1
another person who apparently represents the occupier and who is present 2
when the warrant is executed, give a copy of the thing or the information to 3
that person as soon as practicable after the seizure. 4
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if-- 5
(a) the thing that has been seized was seized under section 156(2)(b) 6
or (c);10 or 7
(b) possession by the occupier of the document, film, computer file, 8
thing or information could constitute an offence. 9
167 Occupier entitled to be present during search 10
(1) If a warrant relating to premises is being executed and the occupier of 11
the premises, or another person who apparently represents the occupier is 12
present at the premises, the person is entitled to observe the search being 13
conducted. 14
(2) The right to observe the search being conducted ends if the person 15
impedes the search. 16
(3) This section does not prevent 2 or more areas of the premises being 17
searched at the same time. 18
168 Receipts for things seized 19
(1) If a thing is seized under this part, the inspector must provide a 20
receipt for the thing. 21
(2) Two or more seized things may be covered in the 1 receipt. 22
169 Retention of seized things 23
(1) Subject to any contrary order of a court, if an inspector seizes a thing 24
under this part, the inspector must return it if-- 25
(a) the reason for its seizure no longer exists or it is decided that it is 26
not to be used in evidence; or 27
(b) the period of 60 days after its seizure ends; 28
10 Section 156 (Use of equipment at premises)
s 170 82 s 170
Gene Technology Bill 2001
whichever first occurs, unless the thing is forfeited or forfeitable to the 1
State. 2
(2) At the end of the 60 days mentioned in subsection (1)(b), an inspector 3
must take reasonable steps to return the thing to the person from whom it 4
was seized, unless-- 5
(a) proceedings for which the thing may afford evidence were 6
started before the end of the 60 days and have not ended, 7
including an appeal to a court in relation the proceedings; or 8
(b) an inspector may retain the thing because of an order under 9
section 170; or 10
(c) to return the thing could cause an imminent risk of death, serious 11
illness, serious injury or serious damage to the environment; or 12
(d) an inspector is otherwise authorised by a law, or an order of a 13
court, of the State or the Commonwealth to retain, destroy or 14
dispose of the thing. 15
(3) The thing may be returned under subsection (2) either 16
unconditionally or on the terms and conditions decided by the regulator. 17
170 Magistrates Court may permit a thing to be retained 18
(1) An inspector may apply to a Magistrates Court for an order that the 19
inspector may retain the thing for a further period if-- 20
(a) before the end of 60 days after the seizure; or 21
(b) before the end of a period previously stated in an order of a 22
Magistrates Court under this section; 23
proceedings for which the thing may afford evidence have not started. 24
(2) If the court is satisfied that it is necessary for an inspector to continue 25
to retain the thing-- 26
(a) for an investigation as to whether an offence against this Act has 27
been committed; or 28
(b) to enable evidence of an offence against this Act to be secured for 29
a prosecution; 30
the court may order that an inspector may retain the thing for a period, not 31
exceeding 3 years, stated in the order. 32
(3) Before making the application, the inspector must-- 33
s 171 83 s 172
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) take reasonable steps to discover who has an interest in the 1
thing's retention; and 2
(b) if it is practicable to do so, notify each person whom the 3
inspector believes to have an interest in the thing's retention of 4
the proposed application. 5
6
Note--
7
This section differs from section 170 of the Commonwealth Act.
171 Disposal of goods if there is no owner or owner can not be located 8
If-- 9
(a) a thing is seized under this part; and 10
(b) apart from this section, the State is required to return the thing to 11
its owner; and 12
(c) there is no owner or the regulator can not, despite making 13
reasonable efforts, locate the owner; 14
the regulator may dispose of the thing in the way the regulator considers 15
appropriate. 16
Division 10--Warrants 17
172 Monitoring warrants 18
(1) An inspector may apply to a magistrate for a warrant under this 19
section relating to premises. 20
(2) Subject to subsection (3), the magistrate may issue the warrant if the 21
magistrate is satisfied, by sworn evidence, that it is reasonably necessary 22
that 1 or more inspectors should have access to the premises for monitoring 23
compliance with this Act. 24
(3) The magistrate must not issue the warrant unless the inspector or 25
some other person has given to the magistrate, either orally or by affidavit, 26
the further information, if any, the magistrate requires about the grounds on 27
which the issue of the warrant is being sought. 28
s 173 84 s 173
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(4) The warrant must-- 1
(a) authorise 1 or more inspectors, whether or not named in the 2
warrant, with the help and by the force that is necessary and 3
reasonable-- 4
(i) to enter the premises; and 5
(ii) to exercise the powers stated in section 15311 relating to the 6
premises; and 7
(b) state whether the entry is authorised to be made at any time of the 8
day or night or during stated hours of the day or night; and 9
(c) state the day, being not more than 6 months after the issue of the 10
warrant, on which the warrant ceases to have effect; and 11
(d) state the purpose for which the warrant is issued. 12
173 Offence-related warrants 13
(1) An inspector may apply to a magistrate for a warrant under this 14
section relating to premises. 15
(2) Subject to subsection (3), the magistrate may issue the warrant if the 16
magistrate is satisfied, by sworn evidence, that there are reasonable 17
grounds for suspecting there is, or there may be within the next 72 hours, 18
evidential material in or on the premises. 19
(3) The magistrate must not issue the warrant unless the inspector or 20
some other person has given to the magistrate, either orally or by affidavit, 21
the further information, if any, the magistrate requires about the grounds on 22
which the issue of the warrant is being sought. 23
(4) The warrant must-- 24
(a) name 1 or more inspectors; and 25
(b) authorise the named inspectors, with the help and by the force 26
that is necessary and reasonable-- 27
(i) to enter the premises; and 28
11 Section 153 (Monitoring powers)
s 174 85 s 174
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(ii) to exercise the powers stated in sections 154(3) and 155;12 1
and 2
(iii) to seize the evidential material; and 3
(c) state whether the entry is authorised to be made at any time of the 4
day or night or during stated hours of the day or night; and 5
(d) state the day, being not more than 1 week after the issue of the 6
warrant, on which the warrant ceases to have effect; and 7
(e) state the purpose for which the warrant is issued. 8
174 Offence-related warrants by telephone, telex, fax etc. 9
(1) If, in an urgent case, an inspector considers it necessary to do so, the 10
inspector may apply to a magistrate by telephone, telex, fax or other 11
electronic means for a warrant under section 173 relating to premises. 12
(2) The magistrate may require communication by voice to the extent 13
that it is practicable in the circumstances. 14
(3) Before applying for the warrant, the inspector must prepare an 15
affidavit relating to the premises stating the grounds on which the warrant 16
is sought. 17
(4) If it is necessary to do so, the inspector may apply for the warrant 18
before the affidavit is sworn. 19
(5) If the magistrate is satisfied-- 20
(a) after having considered the terms of the affidavit; and 21
(b) after having received the further information, if any, the 22
magistrate requires about the grounds on which the issue of the 23
warrant is being sought; 24
that there are reasonable grounds for issuing the warrant, the magistrate 25
may complete and sign the warrant that the magistrate would issue under 26
section 173 if the application had been made under that section. 27
(6) If the magistrate completes and signs the warrant-- 28
(a) the magistrate must-- 29
(i) tell the inspector what the terms of the warrant are; and 30
12 Sections 154 (Searches and seizures related to offences) and 155 (Offence-related
powers of inspectors for premises)
s 174 86 s 174
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(ii) tell the inspector the day on which and the time at which the 1
warrant was signed; and 2
(iii) tell the inspector the day, being not more than 1 week after 3
the magistrate completes and signs the warrant, on which 4
the warrant ceases to have effect; and 5
(iv) record on the warrant the reasons for issuing the warrant; 6
and 7
(b) the inspector must-- 8
(i) complete a form of warrant in the same terms as the warrant 9
completed and signed by the magistrate; and 10
(ii) write on the form the magistrate's name and the day on 11
which and the time at which the warrant was signed. 12
(7) The inspector must also, not later than the day after the day of expiry 13
or execution of the warrant, whichever is the earlier, send to the 14
magistrate-- 15
(a) the form of warrant completed by the inspector; and 16
(b) the affidavit mentioned in subsection (3) that has been duly 17
sworn. 18
(8) When the magistrate receives the documents mentioned in 19
subsection (7)(a) and (b), the magistrate must-- 20
(a) attach the documents to the warrant that the magistrate 21
completed and signed; and 22
(b) deal with the documents in the way in which the magistrate 23
would have dealt with the affidavit if the application had been 24
made under section 173. 25
(9) A form of warrant completed under subsection (6) is authority for 26
any entry, search, seizure or other exercise of a power authorised by the 27
warrant signed by the magistrate. 28
(10) If-- 29
(a) it is material, in any proceedings, for a court to be satisfied that 30
an exercise of a power was authorised by this section; and 31
(b) the warrant signed by the magistrate authorising the exercise of 32
the power is not produced in evidence; 33
the onus of proof is on the person relying on the lawfulness of the exercise 34
of the power to prove a warrant authorised the exercise of the power. 35
s 175 87 s 176
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(11) A reference in this part to a warrant under section 173 includes a 1
reference to a warrant signed by a magistrate under this section. 2
175 Offences relating to warrants 3
(1) An inspector must not make, in an application for a warrant, a 4
statement the inspector knows to be false or misleading in a material 5
particular. 6
Maximum penalty--2 years imprisonment or 176 penalty units. 7
(2) An inspector must not-- 8
(a) state a magistrate's name in a document purporting to be a form 9
of warrant under section 174 unless the magistrate issued the 10
warrant; or 11
(b) state on a form of warrant under section 174 a matter that, to the 12
inspector's knowledge, departs in a material particular from the 13
form authorised by the magistrate; or 14
(c) purport to execute, or present to another person, a document 15
purporting to be a form of warrant under section 174 that the 16
inspector knows-- 17
(i) has not been approved by a magistrate under the section; or 18
(ii) departs in a material particular from the terms authorised by 19
a magistrate under the section; or 20
(d) give to a magistrate a form of warrant under section 174 that is 21
not the form of warrant the inspector purported to execute. 22
Maximum penalty--2 years imprisonment or 176 penalty units. 23
(3) An offence against subsection (1) or (2) is an indictable offence. 24
Division 11--Other matters 25
176 Part not to abrogate privilege against self-incrimination 26
Nothing in this part affects the right of a person to refuse to answer a 27
question, give information, or produce a document, on the ground that the 28
answer to the question, the information, or the production of the document, 29
might tend to incriminate the person or make the person liable to a penalty. 30
s 177 88 s 180
Gene Technology Bill 2001
177 Part does not limit power to impose licence conditions 1
This part is not to be taken to limit the regulator's power to impose 2
licence conditions. 3
PART 12--MISCELLANEOUS 4
Division 1--Simplified outline 5
178 Simplified outline of pt 12 6
In outline, this part provides for miscellaneous matters, including the 7
following-- 8
(a) review of decisions; 9
(b) provisions about confidential commercial information; 10
(c) making regulations; 11
(d) reviewing the operation of this Act. 12
Division 2--Review of decisions 13
179 Meaning of "reviewable decision" and "eligible person" 14
(1) A decision mentioned in schedule 1, column 1, is a "reviewable 15
decision". 16
(2) A person mentioned in schedule 1, column 2, opposite a reviewable 17
decision is an "eligible person" for the decision. 18
19
Note--
20
This section differs from section 179 of the Commonwealth Act.
180 Notification of decisions and review rights 21
(1) The regulator must, as soon as practicable after making a reviewable 22
decision, cause a written notice to be given to each eligible person for the 23
decision containing the following-- 24
s 181 89 s 182
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) the terms of the decision; 1
(b) the reasons for the decision; 2
(c) a statement setting out particulars of the person's review rights. 3
(2) A failure to comply with subsection (1) does not affect the validity of 4
the decision. 5
181 Internal review 6
(1) An eligible person for a reviewable decision, other than a decision 7
made by the regulator personally, may apply in writing to the regulator for 8
a review of the decision. 9
(2) The application must be made within 30 days after the day on which 10
the decision first came to the applicant's notice, or within any further 11
period as the regulator, before or after the end of the 30 days, allows. 12
(3) The regulator must, on receiving the application, review the decision 13
personally. 14
(4) The regulator may-- 15
(a) make a decision affirming, varying or revoking the reviewable 16
decision; and 17
(b) if the regulator revokes the decision, make any other decision the 18
regulator thinks appropriate. 19
182 Deadlines for making reviewable decisions 20
If-- 21
(a) this Act provides for a person to apply to the regulator to make a 22
reviewable decision; and 23
(b) a period is stated under this Act for giving notice of the decision 24
to the applicant; and 25
(c) the regulator has not notified the applicant of the regulator's 26
decision within the period; 27
the regulator is taken, for this Act, to have made a decision to reject the 28
application. 29
s 183 90 s 184
Gene Technology Bill 2001
183 Review of decisions by Administrative Appeals Tribunal 1
(1) Subject to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act, an eligible 2
person may apply under that Act for a review of a following decision-- 3
(a) a reviewable decision made by the regulator personally; 4
(b) a decision made by the regulator under section 181. 5
(2) In this section-- 6
"decision" see the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act, section 3(3).13 7
183A Extended standing for judicial review 8
9
Note--
10
Section 183A of the Commonwealth Act requires that a State be taken to be a person
11
aggrieved for the purpose of the application of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial
12
Review) Act 1977 (Cwlth) in relation to certain decisions, failures or conduct under the
13
Commonwealth Act or regulations.
Division 3--Confidential commercial information 14
184 Application for protection of confidential commercial information 15
(1) A person may apply to the regulator for a declaration that stated 16
information to which this Act relates is confidential commercial 17
information for this Act. 18
(2) The application must be in the approved form. 19
13 Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cwlth), section 3 (Interpretation)--
(3) A reference in this Act to a decision includes a reference to:
(a) making, suspending, revoking or refusing to make an order or determination;
(b) giving, suspending, revoking or refusing to give a certificate, direction,
approval, consent or permission;
(c) issuing, suspending, revoking or refusing to issue a licence, authority or other
instrument;
(d) imposing a condition or restriction;
(e) making a declaration, demand or requirement;
(f) retaining, or refusing to deliver up, an article;
(g) doing or refusing to do any other act or thing.
s 185 91 s 185
Gene Technology Bill 2001
1
Note--
2
This section differs from section 184 of the Commonwealth Act in that the form is
3
approved by the chief executive under section 192G.
185 Regulator may declare that information is confidential 4
commercial information 5
(1) Subject to subsection (2), if the applicant satisfies the regulator that 6
the information stated in the application is-- 7
(a) a trade secret; or 8
(b) other information that has a commercial or other value that 9
would be, or could reasonably be expected to be, destroyed or 10
diminished if the information were disclosed; or 11
(c) other information that-- 12
(i) concerns the lawful commercial or financial affairs of a 13
person, organisation or undertaking; and 14
(ii) if it were disclosed, could unreasonably affect the person, 15
organisation or undertaking; 16
the regulator must declare that the information is confidential commercial 17
information for this Act. 18
(2) The regulator may refuse to declare that the information is 19
confidential commercial information if the regulator is satisfied the public 20
interest in disclosure outweighs the prejudice the disclosure would cause to 21
any person. 22
(2A) The regulator must refuse to declare that information is confidential 23
commercial information if the information relates to 1 or more locations at 24
which field trials involving GMOs are occurring, or are proposed to occur, 25
unless the regulator is satisfied that significant damage to the health and 26
safety of people, the environment or property would be likely to occur if 27
the locations were disclosed. 28
(3) The regulator must give the applicant written notice of the regulator's 29
decision about the application. 30
(3A) If-- 31
(a) the regulator declares that particular information is confidential 32
commercial information; and 33
s 186 92 s 186
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) the information relates to 1 or more locations at which field trials 1
involving GMOs are occurring, or are proposed to occur; 2
the regulator must make publicly available a statement of reasons for the 3
making of the declaration, including, but not limited to the following-- 4
(c) the reasons that the regulator was satisfied as mentioned in 5
subsection (1); 6
(d) the reasons that the regulator was not satisfied under 7
subsection (2) that the public interest in disclosing the 8
information outweighed the prejudice the disclosure would 9
cause; 10
(e) the reasons that the regulator was satisfied under subsection (2A) 11
that significant damage to the health and safety of people, the 12
environment or property would be likely to occur if the locations 13
were disclosed. 14
(4) If the regulator refuses the application, the information for which the 15
application was made must be treated as confidential commercial 16
information until any review rights under section 181 or 183 about the 17
application are exhausted. 18
19
Note--
20
Subsection (2A) means that, in general, information about sites where dealings with
21
GMOs are occurring will be required to be disclosed under sections 54 and 138, unless
22
the regulator is satisfied that disclosure would involve significant risks to health and
23
safety.
186 Revocation of declaration 24
(1) The regulator may, by written notice given to the applicant for a 25
declaration under section 185, revoke the declaration if the regulator is 26
satisfied-- 27
(a) the information concerned no longer satisfies section 185(1)(a), 28
(b) or (c); or 29
(b) the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the 30
prejudice disclosure would cause to any person. 31
(2) The revocation does not take effect until any review rights under 32
section 181 or 183 relating to the revocation are exhausted. 33
s 187 93 s 187
Gene Technology Bill 2001
187 Confidential commercial information must not be disclosed 1
(1) A person who-- 2
(a) has confidential commercial information; and 3
(b) has it only because of performing functions under this Act, the 4
Commonwealth Act or a corresponding State law; and 5
(c) knows the information is confidential commercial information; 6
must not disclose the information other than-- 7
(d) to any of the following entities in the course of carrying out 8
functions under this Act, the Commonwealth Act or a 9
corresponding State law-- 10
(i) a State agency; 11
(ii) the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority; 12
(iii) the gene technology technical advisory committee; or 13
(e) by order of a court; or 14
(f) with the consent of the person who applied to have the 15
information treated as confidential commercial information. 16
Maximum penalty--2 years imprisonment or 176 penalty units. 17
(2) A person who-- 18
(a) has confidential commercial information; and 19
(b) has it because of a disclosure under subsection (1) or under this 20
subsection; and 21
(c) knows the information is confidential commercial information; 22
must not disclose the information other than-- 23
(d) to any of the following entities in the course of carrying out 24
functions under this Act, the Commonwealth Act or a 25
corresponding State law-- 26
(i) a State agency; 27
(ii) the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority; 28
(iii) the gene technology technical advisory committee; or 29
(e) by order of a court; or 30
s 188 94 s 188
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(f) with the consent of the person who applied to have the 1
information treated as confidential commercial information. 2
Maximum penalty--2 years imprisonment or 176 penalty units. 3
(3) The Freedom of Information Act 1992, section 45,14 applies to 4
information to which subsection (1) or (2) applies. 5
(4) This section has effect despite anything to the contrary in the 6
Freedom of Information Act 1992. 7
(5) An offence against subsection (1) or (2) is an indictable offence. 8
(6) In this section-- 9
"corresponding State law" see the Commonwealth Act, section 12. 10
"court" includes a tribunal, authority or person having power to require the 11
production of documents or the answering of questions. 12
"disclose", information, means give or communicate the information in 13
any way. 14
15
Note--
16
This section differs from section 187 of the Commonwealth Act.
Division 4--Conduct by directors, employees and agents 17
188 Conduct by directors, employees and agents 18
(1) If, in proceedings for an offence against this Act, or an ancillary 19
offence against this Act, it is necessary to establish a body corporate's state 20
of mind for particular conduct, it is enough to show that-- 21
(a) the conduct was engaged in by a director, employee or agent of 22
the body corporate within the scope of his or her actual or 23
apparent authority; and 24
(b) the director, employee or agent had the state of mind. 25
(2) Any conduct engaged in for a body corporate by a director, employee 26
or agent of the body corporate within the scope of his or her actual or 27
apparent authority is taken, for a prosecution for-- 28
14 Freedom of Information Act 1992, section 45 (Matter relating to trade secrets,
business affairs and research)
s 189 95 s 189
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) an offence against this Act; or 1
(b) an ancillary offence against this Act; 2
to have been engaged in also by the body corporate, unless the body 3
corporate establishes that the body corporate took reasonable precautions 4
and exercised proper diligence to avoid the conduct. 5
(3) If, in proceedings for an ancillary offence against this Act, it is 6
necessary to establish the state of mind of a person other than a body 7
corporate for particular conduct, it is enough to show that-- 8
(a) the conduct was engaged in by an employee or agent of the 9
person within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; 10
and 11
(b) the employee or agent had the state of mind. 12
(4) Any conduct engaged in for a person (the "first person"), other than 13
a body corporate, by an employee or agent of the first person, within the 14
scope of the actual or apparent authority of the employee or agent is taken, 15
for a prosecution for-- 16
(a) an offence against this Act; or 17
(b) an ancillary offence against this Act; 18
to have been engaged in also by the first person unless the first person 19
establishes that he or she took reasonable precautions and exercised proper 20
diligence to avoid the conduct. 21
(5) If-- 22
(a) a person other than a body corporate is convicted of an offence; 23
and 24
(b) the person would not have been convicted of the offence if 25
subsections (3) and (4) had not been enacted; 26
the person is not liable to be punished by imprisonment for the offence. 27
189 Meaning of terms 28
(1) A reference in section 188(1) or (3) to a person's state of mind 29
includes a reference to-- 30
(a) the person's knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose; 31
and 32
(b) the person's reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose. 33
s 190 96 s 190
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(2) A reference in section 188 to a director of a body corporate includes a 1
reference to a constituent member of a body corporate incorporated for a 2
public purpose by a law of the State, the Commonwealth or another State. 3
(3) A reference in section 188 to engaging in conduct includes a 4
reference to failing or refusing to engage in conduct. 5
(4) A reference in section 188 to an ancillary offence against this Act is a 6
reference to an offence-- 7
(a) against section 192E(1); or 8
(b) for which a person may be charged because the person-- 9
(i) enabled or aided another person to commit an offence; or 10
(ii) aided another person in committing an offence; or 11
(iii) counselled or procured another person to commit an 12
offence; or 13
(iv) conspired with another person to commit an offence. 14
15
Note--
16
This section differs from section 189 of the Commonwealth Act.
Division 5--Transitional provisions 17
190 Dealings covered by Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee 18
advice to proceed 19
(1) The prohibitions in this Act apply to a dealing with a GMO by a 20
person at a particular time (the "dealing time") during the transition period 21
with the modifications stated in subsection (2) if-- 22
(a) immediately before the commencement of part 4, an advice to 23
proceed was in force for the dealing with the GMO by the 24
person; and 25
(b) the advice to proceed is in force at the dealing time; and 26
(c) the dealing is in accordance with the advice to proceed. 27
(2) Unless the dealing is a notifiable low risk dealing, an exempt dealing 28
or a dealing on the GMO register-- 29
(a) the advice to proceed is taken for this Act to be a GMO licence; 30
and 31
s 191 97 s 192
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(b) the holder of the advice to proceed is taken to be the licence 1
holder; and 2
(c) the licence is taken to be subject to any conditions to which the 3
advice to proceed is subject; and 4
(d) the licence is taken to remain in force for the period ending at the 5
earliest of the following times-- 6
(i) the time when the advice to proceed expires; 7
(ii) the end of the transition period; 8
(iii) when the licence is cancelled under section 6815 or 9
surrendered under section 69.16 10
(3) In this section-- 11
"advice to proceed" means an advice to proceed issued by the Genetic 12
Manipulation Advisory Committee, under guidelines issued by the 13
committee. 14
"transition period" means the period, not exceeding 2 years, prescribed 15
under a regulation for this section. 16
17
Note--
18
Section 190(3) of the Commonwealth Act defines the "transition period" as being
19
2 years from the commencement of part 4 of that Act.
191 Regulations may relate to transitional matters 20
21
Note--
22
Section 191 of the Commonwealth Act provides for regulations to be made under that
23
Act for transitional matters arising under that Act.
Division 6--Other 24
192 False or misleading information or document 25
A person must not-- 26
15 Section 68 (Suspension and cancellation of licence)
16 Section 69 (Surrender of licence)
s 192A 98 s 192A
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) in connection with an application made to the regulator under 1
this Act; or 2
(b) in compliance or purported compliance with this Act; 3
do either of the following-- 4
(c) give information, whether orally or in writing, that the person 5
knows is false or misleading in a material particular; 6
(d) produce a document that the person knows is false or misleading 7
in a material particular without-- 8
(i) indicating to the person to whom the document is produced 9
that it is false or misleading, and the way in which it is false 10
or misleading; and 11
(ii) providing correct information to the person to whom the 12
document is produced, if the person producing the 13
document is in possession of, or can reasonably acquire, the 14
correct information. 15
Maximum penalty--1 year's imprisonment or 88 penalty units. 16
192A Interference with dealings with GMOs 17
(1) A person commits an indictable offence if-- 18
(a) the person engages in conduct; and 19
(b) the conduct-- 20
(i) results in damage to, destruction of, or interference with, 21
premises or a facility at which dealings with GMOs are 22
being undertaken; or 23
(ii) involves damaging, destroying, or interfering with, a thing 24
at, or removing a thing from, the premises or facility; and 25
(c) the owner or occupier of the premises or facility, or the owner of 26
the thing (as the case requires), has not consented to the conduct; 27
and 28
(d) in engaging in the conduct, the person intends to prevent or 29
hinder authorised GMO dealings that are being undertaken at the 30
premises or facility; and 31
(e) the person knows, or is reckless as to, the matters mentioned in 32
paragraphs (b) and (c). 33
s 192B 99 s 192E
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Maximum penalty--2 years imprisonment or 176 penalty units. 1
(2) In this section-- 2
"authorised GMO dealings", for premises or a facility, means dealings 3
with GMOs being undertaken at the premises or facility that are-- 4
(a) authorised to be undertaken at the premises or facility by a GMO 5
licence; or 6
(b) notifiable low risk dealings; or 7
(c) exempt dealings; or 8
(d) included on the GMO register. 9
10
Note--
11
This section differs from section 192A of the Commonwealth Act which contains a
12
note about the general principles of criminal responsibility under the Criminal Code
13
(Cwlth).
192B Cloning of human beings is prohibited 14
15
Note--
16
Section 192B of the Commonwealth Act prohibits the cloning of whole human beings.
192C Certain experiments involving animal eggs prohibited 17
18
Note--
19
Section 192C of the Commonwealth Act prohibits experiments or research involving
20
putting human cells, or a combination of human cells and animal cells, into animal
21
eggs.
192D Certain experiments involving putting human and animal cells 22
into a human uterus prohibited 23
24
Note--
25
Section 192D of the Commonwealth Act prohibits experiments or research involving
26
putting a combination of human cells and animal cells into a human uterus.
192E Attempts to commit offences against Act 27
(1) A person who attempts to commit an offence (the "attempted 28
offence") against this Act commits an offence. 29
s 192F 100 s 192F
Gene Technology Bill 2001
Maximum penalty--the maximum penalty for committing the attempted 1
offence. 2
(2) The Criminal Code, section 4,17 applies to subsection (1). 3
(3) If the attempted offence is an indictable offence, the offence against 4
subsection (1) is an indictable offence. 5
6
Note--
7
This section is not required in the Commonwealth Act.
192F Proceedings for an offence 8
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a proceeding for an offence against this Act 9
must be taken in a summary way under the Justices Act 1886 within the 10
later of the following-- 11
(a) 1 year after the offence is committed; 12
(b) 6 months after the commission of the offence comes to the 13
complainant's knowledge, but within 2 years after the 14
commission of the offence. 15
(2) A proceeding for an indictable offence may, at the election of the 16
prosecution, be taken-- 17
(a) subject to subsection (5), by way of summary proceedings under 18
subsection (1); or 19
(b) on indictment. 20
(3) A proceeding against a person for an indictable offence must be 21
before a magistrate if it is a proceeding-- 22
(a) for the summary conviction of the person; or 23
(b) for an examination of witnesses relating to the charge. 24
(4) If a proceeding for an indictable offence is brought before a justice 25
who is not a magistrate, jurisdiction is limited to taking or making a 26
procedural action or order within the meaning of the Justices of the Peace 27
and Commissioners for Declarations Act 1991. 28
(5) If-- 29
17 Criminal Code, section 4 (Attempts to commit offences)
s 192G 101 s 193
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(a) a person charged with an indictable offence asks at the start of a 1
summary proceeding for the offence that the charge be 2
prosecuted on indictment; or 3
(b) the magistrate hearing a charge of an indictable offence considers 4
the charge should be prosecuted on indictment; 5
the magistrate-- 6
(c) must not decide the charge as a summary offence; and 7
(d) must proceed by way of a committal proceeding. 8
(6) If a magistrate acts under subsection (5)-- 9
(a) any plea of the person charged, made at the start of the 10
proceeding, must be disregarded; and 11
(b) any evidence brought in the proceeding before the magistrate 12
decided to act under subsection (5) is taken to be evidence in the 13
proceeding for the committal of the person for trial or sentence; 14
and 15
(c) before committing the person for trial or sentence, the magistrate 16
must make a statement to the person under the Justices Act 1886, 17
section 104(2)(b). 18
(7) The maximum penalty that may be imposed on a summary 19
conviction of an indictable offence is 100 penalty units or 1 year's 20
imprisonment. 21
22
Note--
23
This section does not appear in the Commonwealth Act. The Crimes Act 1914 (Cwlth),
24
section 4J, contains a general provision authorising indictable offences to be dealt with
25
summarily.
192G Approved forms 26
The chief executive may approve forms for use under this Act. 27
28
Note--
29
This section does not appear in the Commonwealth Act.
193 Regulation-making power 30
(1) The Governor in Council may make regulations under this Act. 31
s 194 102 s 195
Gene Technology Bill 2001
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a regulation may require a person to 1
comply with a code of practice or guideline issued under this Act. 2
3
Note--
4
This section differs from section 193 of the Commonwealth Act.
194 Review of operation of Act 5
(1) The Minister must cause an independent review of the operation of 6
this Act to be undertaken as soon as possible after the fourth anniversary of 7
the commencement of this Act. 8
(2) A person who undertakes the review must give the Minister a written 9
report of the review. 10
(3) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be laid before the 11
Legislative Assembly within 12 months after the fourth anniversary of the 12
commencement. 13
(4) In this section-- 14
"independent review" means a review undertaken by persons who-- 15
(a) the Minister considers have appropriate qualifications to 16
undertake the review; and 17
(b) include 1 or more persons who are not employed by the State, a 18
State agency, the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority. 19
20
Note--
21
This section differs from section 194 of the Commonwealth Act.
195 Act amended 22
Schedule 2 amends the Act mentioned in it. 23
103
Gene Technology Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1 1
REVIEWABLE DECISIONS AND ELIGIBLE PERSONS 2
section 179 3
Column 1 Column 2
Reviewable decision Eligible person
1. To refuse to issue a licence under the applicant for the
section 55 licence
2. To impose a licence condition under the licence holder
section 55
3. To suspend or cancel a licence under the licence holder
section 68
4. To vary a licence under section 71 the licence holder
5. To refuse to certify a facility under the applicant for
section 84 certification
6. To state a condition of a certification the holder of the
under section 86 certification
7. To vary a certification under the holder of the
section 87 certification
8. To suspend or cancel a certification the holder of the
under section 88 certification
9. To refuse to accredit an organisation the applicant for
under section 92 accreditation
10. To state a condition of an the holder of the
accreditation under section 94 accreditation
104
Gene Technology Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
Column 1 Column 2
Reviewable decision Eligible person
11. To vary an accreditation under the holder of the
section 95 accreditation
12. To suspend or cancel an accreditation the holder of the
under section 96 accreditation
13. To refuse to declare information to be the person who
confidential commercial information made an application
under section 185 under section 184
for the information
14. To revoke a declaration that the person who
information is confidential made an application
commercial information under under section 184
section 185 for the information
105
Gene Technology Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 2 1
CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENT 2
section 195 3
AGRICULTURAL AND VETERINARY CHEMICALS 4
(QUEENSLAND) ACT 1994 5
1 After section 23-- 6
insert-- 7
`23A Consultation with gene technology regulator 8
`(1) A function or power conferred on the NRA under section 8A of the 9
Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Administration) Act about any 10
matter arising in relation to the Code set out in the schedule to the 11
Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code Act extends to any 12
corresponding matter arising in relation to the applicable provisions of this 13
jurisdiction, and the section applies accordingly. 14
`(2) If the NRA gives the regulator within the meaning of the Gene 15
Technology Act 2001 a notice under section 8A(3) of the Agricultural and 16
Veterinary Chemicals (Administration) Act (as that section applies by force 17
of subsection (1) of this section), the regulator may give written advice to 18
the NRA about the application, reconsideration or issue. 19
`(3) The advice must be given within the period stated in the notice. 20
`(4) A reference in the Agvet Code of this jurisdiction to a provision of 21
section 8A of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Administration) 22
Act has effect as if it were a reference to that provision as applying by force 23
of subsection (1) of this section.'. 24
25
Note--
26
This section does not appear in the Commonwealth Act but is consistent with
27
amendments to Commonwealth Acts made by the Gene Technology (Consequential
28
Amendments) Act 2000 (Cwlth), schedule 1, items 1 to 7.
106
Gene Technology Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 3 1
DICTIONARY 2
section 10 3
"accredited organisation" means an organisation accredited under part 7, 4
division 3. 5
"Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act" means the Administrative 6
Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cwlth). 7
"aggravated offence" see section 38(1). 8
"ancillary offence", for section 188, see section 189(4). 9
"approved form" means a form approved by the chief executive. 10
"Commonwealth Act" means the Gene Technology Act 2000 (Cwlth). 11
"Commonwealth authority" means-- 12
(a) a body corporate established for a public purpose under a 13
Commonwealth Act; or 14
(b) a company in which a controlling interest is held by any 1 of the 15
following persons, or by 2 or more of the following persons 16
together-- 17
(i) the Commonwealth; 18
(ii) a body corporate mentioned in paragraph (a); 19
(iii) an entity mentioned in subparagraph (i) or (ii). 20
"Commonwealth Environment Minister" means the Commonwealth 21
Minister responsible for environment and conservation. 22
"confidential commercial information" means information declared to 23
be confidential commercial information under section 185. 24
"consultative committee" means the Gene Technology Community 25
Consultative Committee established under the Commonwealth Act, 26
section 106. 27
"containment level", for a facility, means the degree of physical 28
confinement of GMOs provided by the facility, having regard to the 29
design of the facility, the equipment located or installed in the facility 30
and the procedures generally used within the facility. 31
107
Gene Technology Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 3 (continued)
"deal with", for a GMO, means any of the following-- 1
(a) conduct experiments with the GMO; 2
(b) make, develop, produce or manufacture the GMO; 3
(c) breed the GMO; 4
(d) propagate the GMO; 5
(e) use the GMO in the course of manufacturing a thing that is not 6
the GMO; 7
(f) grow, raise or culture the GMO; 8
(g) import the GMO; 9
and includes the possession, supply, use, transport or disposal of the 10
GMO for, or in the course of, a dealing mentioned in any of 11
paragraphs (a) to (g). 12
"director", of a body corporate, for section 188, see section 189(2). 13
"eligible person", for a reviewable decision, see section 179(2). 14
"engage in conduct", for section 188, see section 189(3). 15
"environment" includes the following-- 16
(a) ecosystems and their constituent parts; 17
(b) natural and physical resources; 18
(c) the qualities and characteristics of locations, places and areas. 19
"ethics committee" means the Gene Technology Ethics Committee 20
established under the Commonwealth Act, section 111. 21
"evidential material" means any of the following-- 22
(a) a thing relating to which an offence against this Act has been 23
committed or is reasonably suspected to have been committed; 24
(b) a thing that is reasonably suspected will afford evidence as to the 25
commission of an offence mentioned in paragraph (a); 26
(c) a thing that is reasonably suspected is intended to be used for 27
committing an offence mentioned in paragraph (a). 28
"exempt dealing" means a dealing prescribed under a regulation as an 29
exempt dealing. 30
108
Gene Technology Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 3 (continued)
"facility" includes, but is not limited to, the following-- 1
(a) a building or part of a building; 2
(b) a laboratory; 3
(c) an aviary; 4
(d) a glasshouse; 5
(e) an insectary; 6
(f) an animal house; 7
(g) an aquarium or tank. 8
"gene technology" means any technique for modifying genes or other 9
genetic material, but does not include the following-- 10
(a) sexual reproduction; 11
(b) homologous recombination; 12
(c) any other technique prescribed under a regulation for this 13
paragraph. 14
"gene technology account" means the Gene Technology Account 15
established under the Commonwealth Act, section 129. 16
"gene technology agreement" means the Gene Technology Agreement 17
made for the purposes of this Act between the Commonwealth and at 18
least 4 States, as in force from time to time. 19
"gene technology regulator" means the Gene Technology Regulator 20
appointed under the Commonwealth Act, section 118. 21
"gene technology technical advisory committee" means the Gene 22
Technology Technical Advisory Committee established under the 23
Commonwealth Act, section 100. 24
"genetically modified organism" means any of the following-- 25
(a) an organism that has been modified by gene technology; 26
(b) an organism that has inherited particular traits from an organism 27
(the "initial organism"), being traits that occurred in the initial 28
organism because of gene technology; 29
109
Gene Technology Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 3 (continued)
(c) anything declared under a regulation to be a genetically modified 1
organism, or that belongs to a class of things declared under a 2
regulation to be genetically modified organisms; 3
but does not include-- 4
(d) a human being, if the human being is an organism mentioned in 5
paragraph (a) only because the human being has undergone 6
somatic cell gene therapy; or 7
(e) an organism declared under a regulation not to be a genetically 8
modified organism, or that belongs to a class of organisms 9
declared under a regulation not to be genetically modified 10
organisms. 11
"GMO" means a genetically modified organism. 12
"GMO licence" means a licence issued under section 55. 13
"GM record" means the Record of GMO and GM Product Dealings 14
mentioned in the Commonwealth Act, section 138. 15
"GMO register" means the GMO Register established under the 16
Commonwealth Act, section 76. 17
"GM product" means a thing, other than a GMO, derived or produced 18
from a GMO. 19
"institutional biosafety committee" means a committee established by an 20
accredited organisation as an institutional biosafety committee. 21
"intentional release of a GMO into the environment" see section 11. 22
"licence holder" means the holder of a GMO licence. 23
"Ministerial council" means the Ministerial Council within the meaning 24
of the gene technology agreement. 25
"notifiable low risk dealing" means a dealing declared to be a notifiable 26
low risk dealing under section 74. 27
"officer", in relation to the Commonwealth, includes the following-- 28
(a) a Commonwealth Minister; 29
(b) a person who holds-- 30
(i) an office established under a Commonwealth Act; or 31
(ii) an appointment made under a Commonwealth Act; or 32
110
Gene Technology Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 3 (continued)
(iii) an appointment made by the Governor-General or a 1
Commonwealth Minister but not under a Commonwealth 2
Act; 3
(c) a person who is a member or officer of a Commonwealth 4
authority; 5
(d) a person who is in the service or employment of the 6
Commonwealth or of a Commonwealth authority, or is employed 7
or engaged under a Commonwealth Act. 8
"organism" means any biological entity that is-- 9
(a) viable; or 10
(b) capable of reproduction; or 11
(c) capable of transferring genetic material. 12
"person covered by a GMO licence" means a person authorised by a 13
GMO licence to deal with a GMO. 14
"premises" includes the following-- 15
(a) a building; 16
(b) a place, including an area of land; 17
(c) a vehicle; 18
(d) a vessel; 19
(e) an aircraft; 20
(f) a facility; 21
(g) any part of premises, including premises mentioned in 22
paragraphs (a) to (f). 23
"proposed dealings" means dealings proposed to be authorised by a GMO 24
licence. 25
"reasonably believes" means believes on grounds that are reasonable in 26
the circumstances. 27
"reasonably suspects" means suspects on grounds that are reasonable in 28
the circumstances. 29
"reckless" see section 12A. 30
"regulator" means the gene technology regulator. 31
111
Gene Technology Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 3 (continued)
"relevant conviction" means a conviction for an offence against a law of 1
the State, the Commonwealth, another State or a foreign country, 2
being a law about the health and safety of people or the environment, 3
if-- 4
(a) the offence was committed within 10 years immediately before 5
the making of the application for the licence; and 6
(b) the offence was punishable by a fine of $5 000 or more, or by a 7
term of imprisonment of 1 year or more. 8
"reviewable decision" see section 179(1). 9
"State agency" means-- 10
(a) the State; or 11
(b) a Minister; or 12
(c) an entity declared under the Public Service Act 1996 to be a 13
department of government; or 14
(d) an instrumentality of the State, including a body corporate 15
established for a public purpose under a law of the State; or 16
(e) a company in which a controlling interest is held by any 1 of the 17
following persons, or by 2 or more of the following persons 18
together-- 19
(i) the State; 20
(ii) a Minister, or a State instrumentality mentioned in 21
paragraph (d); 22
(iii) an entity mentioned in subparagraph (i) or (ii). 23
"state of mind", of a person, for section 188, see section 189(1). 24
"thing" includes a substance, and a thing in electronic or magnetic form. 25
© State of Queensland 2001
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