Ensuring MPI remains a trusted and effective regulator
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is one of the largest Government regulators in the country.
The Office of the Inspector General Regulatory Systems was set up in 2019 to:
- provide impartial advice to the Director-General on the health of MPI's regulatory systems
- help MPI remain an effective and trusted regulator.
The office sits within MPI but is independent of its business units.
The Inspector General Regulatory Systems has set a future work programme which looks across MPI's regulatory systems over time.
Included in the work programme are links to published reports and MPI's response to those reports, if available.
Inspector General Regulatory Systems work programme [PDF, 96 KB]
MPI's DIVERSE REGULATION PORTFOLIO
- MPI administers more than 50 Acts of Parliament in agriculture, biosecurity, food safety, forestry, fisheries, trade, and animal welfare.
- People within MPI and agencies outside MPI undertake a variety of regulatory responsibilities to ensure the smooth functioning of NZ's primary industries regulatory systems.
Reviews of MPI's regulatory systems
The Inspector General Regulatory Systems may consider any part or aspect of any primary sector regulatory system, seeking ways that MPI’s regulatory practice could be improved.
The work includes:
- undertaking proactive and reactive reviews on regulatory matters as agreed or requested by MPI's Director-General
- keeping abreast of new and revised MPI related legislation and regulations, and internationally developing regulatory practice
- providing thought leadership and insights to MPI's senior leaders on regulatory risk and elements of regulatory system stewardship.
The Inspector General Regulatory Systems has developed a framework to guide its reviews. This is a developing framework, and will be changed as regulatory practice emerges and changes.
Review framework used by the Office of the Inspector General Regulatory Systems [PPTX, 309 KB]
What the reviews can cover
The reviews can look into elements of any regulatory systems that MPI manages and administers.
They can:
- cover an entire system
- focus on specific parts of the system (for example, the regulation of large dairy processing under the Animal Products Act 1999)
- look at component elements of regulatory practice across multiple systems (for example, compliance and enforcement across regulatory systems).
About the Inspector-General Regulatory Systems
Debby Butler is the Inspector General Regulatory Systems. She leads a team of principal advisers.
