19   Declaration of recognised external approval schemes

(1)  The Minister is not to declare a scheme to be a recognised external approval scheme for the purposes of section 15 of the Act unless:

(a)  an application is made to the Minister for the declaration under this Part, and

(b)  the Minister is satisfied that the person that conducts the scheme is appropriately accredited (or will be appropriately accredited within the next 12 months) as competent to certify that electrical articles comply with relevant Australian Standards by the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand, and

(c)  the person that conducts the scheme has agreed to implement such systems for the approval and marking of electrical articles as the Minister may direct from time to time, and

(d)  the Minister has advertised his or her intention to make a declaration in respect of a specified scheme, as provided by this Part and considered any submissions made concerning the proposed declaration.

(2)  The Minister must specify a period (not exceeding 5 years) for the duration of the declaration of a recognised external approval scheme.

(3)  The Minister may impose conditions on the declaration of a recognised external approval scheme for the purposes of section 15 of the Act and may vary or revoke any such conditions.

(4)  Without limiting subclause (3), a condition may limit the approval or certification of models of electrical articles that may be provided under a recognised external approval scheme to a specified class or specified classes of models of electrical articles.

(5)  The Minister may not impose or vary a condition under subclause (3) after declaring a scheme to be a recognised external approval scheme unless:

(a)  the person conducting the scheme has been given written notice of the Minister’s intention to impose or vary the condition, and

(b)  the person has been given the opportunity to make written submissions to the Minister concerning the proposed imposition or variation within a specified period (not being less than 7 days), and

(c)  the Minister has taken into account any such written submissions.

(6)  The imposition, variation or revocation of a condition under subclause (3) does not take effect until the person conducting the recognised external scheme has been given written notice of the imposition, variation or revocation of the condition.

(7)  The Minister may revoke a declaration made under section 15 of the Act for the breach of a condition imposed under subclause (3) or for any other reason, but only if:

(a)  the person conducting the scheme has been given written notice of the Minister’s intention to revoke the declaration, and

(b)  the person has been given the opportunity to make written submissions to the Minister concerning the proposed revocation (not being less than 7 days), and

(c)  the Minister has taken into account any such written submissions.

(8)  In this clause:

Australian Standard means a standard published by or on behalf of Standards Australia and includes a standard that is published jointly with Standards New Zealand.