(1) The Director-General may appoint any officer of the Department, or any person whom the Director-General considers is suitably qualified for the purpose, to be an inspector for the purposes of this Act.(2) On appointing an inspector under subsection (1), the Director-General must issue to the inspector a certificate of authority that authorises the inspector to exercise the powers conferred on an inspector by this Act.(3) A certificate of authority must:(a) state that it is issued under the Gene Technology (GM Crop Moratorium) Act 2003, and(b) give the name of the person to whom it is issued, and(c) state the date, if any, on which it expires, and(d) describe the nature of the powers conferred and the source of the powers.
(1) An inspector may at any reasonable time enter and inspect any premises for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not a provision of this Act, or any regulation made under this Act, is being or has been complied with or contravened.(2) While on premises entered under this section or under the authority of a search warrant under this Part, an inspector may do one or more of the following:(a) inspect anything that the inspector reasonably believes may provide evidence of an offence against this Act or the regulations,(b) take, remove and keep for analysis or testing a sample of any plant, or anything the inspector reasonably believes to be a plant,(c) inspect any records kept on those premises and require any person whom the inspector reasonably believes to have custody or control of those records to produce them for inspection,(d) require any person on those premises to answer questions or otherwise furnish information in relation to a contravention of this Act or the regulations,(e) make and take away copies of the whole or any part of any records or other information,(f) take away and retain, for such period as may be reasonably necessary, any records or other information, or any part of them, in order to make copies of them,(g) take away and retain any records or other information, if the inspector concerned reasonably believes that the records or information are evidence of an offence against this Act or the regulations, until proceedings for the offence have been disposed of,(h) seize and detain anything that the inspector reasonably believes may provide evidence of an offence against this Act or the regulations,(i) place anything seized as referred to in paragraph (h) in a container, or in a room, compartment or cabinet located on the premises where it was seized, and mark, fasten and seal that container or, as the case may be, the door or opening providing access to that room, compartment or cabinet,(j) take such photographs, films, audio, video and other recordings as the inspector considers necessary.(3) Anything seized under this section may, at the option of the inspector who made the seizure or another inspector acting in place of that inspector, be detained on the premises where it was found or be removed to other premises and detained there.(4) Before taking away a record or statement or anything seized under this section, an inspector must tender an appropriate receipt to the person from whom it was taken.(5) This section does not authorise an inspector to enter any part of premises that is being used for residential purposes except:(a) with the consent of the occupier, or(b) under the authority of a search warrant.(6) An inspector must, when exercising on any premises any function of an inspector under this section, produce the inspector’s certificate of authority if required to do so by the occupier of the premises.
24 Provisions relating to exercise of powers
(1) A power conferred by this Act to enter premises, or to make an inspection or take other action on premises, may not be exercised unless the inspector proposing to exercise the power:(a) is in possession of a certificate of authority, and(b) gives reasonable notice to the occupier of the premises of the intention to exercise the power, unless the giving of notice would defeat the purpose for which it is intended to exercise the power, and(c) exercises the power at a reasonable time, unless it is being exercised in an emergency, and(d) uses no more force than is reasonably necessary to effect the entry or make the inspection.(2) Despite section 33, if damage is caused by an inspector exercising a power to enter premises, a reasonable amount of compensation is recoverable as a debt owed by the Crown to the owner of the premises unless the occupier obstructed the exercise of the power.(3) This section does not apply to a power conferred by a search warrant issued under the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002.
25 Requirement to provide information and records
(1) An inspector may, by notice in writing given to a person, require the person to furnish to the inspector such information or records (or both) as the inspector requires by the notice, being information that relates to the question of whether or not this Act or the regulations are being or have been contravened.(2) A notice under this section:(a) must specify the manner in which information or records are required to be furnished and a reasonable time by which the information or records are required to be furnished, and(b) may only require a person to furnish existing records that are in the person’s possession or that are within the person’s power to obtain lawfully.(3) The inspector to whom any record is furnished under this Part may take copies of it.(4) If any record required to be furnished under this Part is in electronic, mechanical or other form, the notice requires the record to be furnished in written form, unless the notice otherwise provides.(5) This section applies whether or not a power of entry under this Act is being or has been exercised.
26 Power of inspectors to require answers
(1) An inspector may require a person whom the inspector suspects on reasonable grounds to have knowledge of matters in respect of which information is reasonably required for the purposes of this Act to answer questions in relation to those matters.(2) An inspector may, by notice in writing, require a corporation to nominate, in writing within the time specified in the notice, a director or officer of the corporation to be the corporation’s representative for the purpose of answering questions under this section.(3) Answers given by a person nominated under subsection (2) bind the corporation.
27 Power to demand name and address
An inspector may require a person whom the inspector suspects on reasonable grounds to have contravened or to be contravening this Act or the regulations to state his or her full name and residential address.
28 Limitation on self-incrimination
(1) A person who is required under this Part to answer a question or to produce a thing is not excused from answering the question or producing that thing on the ground that the answer to the question or the production of the thing might tend to incriminate the person or make the person liable to a penalty.(2) The answer to the question or production of the thing is not admissible in evidence against the person in any criminal proceedings (except proceedings for an offence under section 30 (1)–(3)) if:(a) the person objected at the time to answering the question or producing the thing on the ground that it might incriminate the person, or(b) the person was not warned on that occasion that the person may object to answering the question or producing the thing on the ground that it might incriminate the person.
(1) An inspector may apply to an authorised officer for a search warrant for premises if the inspector believes on reasonable grounds:(a) that a provision of this Act or the regulations is being or has been contravened on the premises, or(b) that there is on the premises evidence of a contravention of a provision of this Act or the regulations.(2) An authorised officer to whom such an application is made may, if satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for doing so, issue a search warrant authorising an inspector named in the warrant:(a) to enter and inspect any premises, and(b) to exercise the powers, or any specified powers, of an inspector under this Part.(3) Division 4 of Part 5 of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 applies to a search warrant issued under this section.(4) In this section:authorised officer has the same meaning as it has in the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002.
(1) A person who, without reasonable excuse, neglects or fails to comply with a requirement made of the person by an inspector under this Act is guilty of an offence.(2) A person who furnishes any information or makes a statement in purported compliance with a requirement made by an inspector under this Act, knowing that it is false or misleading in a material respect, is guilty of an offence.(3) A person who, without reasonable excuse, hinders or obstructs an inspector in the exercise of any of the powers conferred by this Act is guilty of an offence.(4) A person who, without reasonable excuse, removes or tampers with anything that has been seized under this Act is guilty of an offence.(5) A person who, without reasonable excuse, removes or tampers with any sample taken under this Act is guilty of an offence.(6) A person is not guilty of an offence of failing to comply with a requirement made by an inspector unless it is established by the prosecutor that the inspector concerned warned the person that a failure or refusal to comply with the requirement was an offence.(7) A person is not guilty of an offence of hindering or obstructing an inspector in the exercise of the inspector’s powers at any premises unless it is established by the prosecutor that:(a) the inspector concerned produced at the relevant time the certificate of authority issued to the inspector under this Part, and(b) the person was informed by the inspector concerned, or otherwise knew, that the inspector was empowered to exercise the power to which the offence relates.Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 months, or both.
(1) Any item seized under this Act is forfeited to the Crown and may be destroyed or disposed of in such manner as the Minister directs.(2) However, if:(a) any seized item is forfeited to the Crown under this section, and(b) the Minister is satisfied that there has been no contravention of this Act or the regulations in relation to the seized item, and(c) the seized item has not been disposed of or destroyed in a manner that would prevent it from being dealt with in accordance with this subsection,the Minister must immediately cause the seized item to be delivered to such person as appears to the Minister to be the person who would, but for the forfeiture, have been entitled to it.(3) If any seized item is delivered to a person in accordance with subsection (2), such proprietary and other interests as existed immediately before the forfeiture are revived.
32 Injunctions to prevent contravention of Act
(1) If a person has contravened, is contravening or is proposing to contravene a provision of this Act, the Supreme Court may, on the application of the Minister, grant an injunction restraining the person from doing so or requiring the person to do any act or thing necessary to avoid or remedy the contravention.(2) The Court may, before considering the application, grant an interim injunction restraining the person from engaging in conduct pending the determination of the application.(3) The Court may rescind or vary such an injunction or interim injunction.(4) The Minister is not to be required to give any undertaking as to damages or costs in respect of an application under this section.