Update – 30 March 2022
New charges took effect from 12 January 2023
The Government agreed to changes to fees that support the forestry component of the Emissions Trading Scheme. New regulations were gazetted on 15 December 2022 and the changes took effect on 12 January 2023.
Most changes involve increasing fees and switching from time-based fees to fixed or tiered charges. In response to submissions, the Government agreed to not increase costs for registering and adding forest land less than 10 hectares in size.
The previous fees had not been updated since 2011. The new fees reflect the actual cost of providing the services.
Find out more
Climate Change (Emissions Rulings: Fees and Charges) Amendment Regulations 2022 [PDF, 665 KB]
Climate Change (Forestry) Amendment Regulations 2022 [PDF, 675 KB]
Climate Implications of Policy Assessment – Disclosure Sheet [PDF, 734 KB]
ETS fees
The fees listed do not include GST. Additionally, from 2023, post-1989 forest land can enter the ETS as "standard forestry" or "permanent forestry". There are sometimes differences in how the fees apply to standard and permanent forestry.
Registering post-1989 forest land as standard forestry
The previous fee was $488.89 for the first 4.25 hours, plus $115.55 per hour after that.
The new fee to register post-1989 forest land as standard forestry depends on the area of land you are applying to register.
|
Less than 10 hectares (ha) |
$488.89 |
|
From 10 ha to less than 50 ha |
$1,815.00 |
|
From 50 ha to less than 100 ha |
$1,980.00 |
|
From 100 ha to less than 500 ha |
$2,640.00 |
|
From 500 ha or more |
$4,125.00 |
|
Note: Applications to register permanent forestry will not incur a fee. |
|
Adding more land into the ETS as standard forestry
The previous fee was $88.89 for the first 45 minutes, plus $115.55 per hour beyond that.
The new fee to add more forest land as standard forestry depends on the area of land you are applying to add.
|
Less than 10 hectares (ha) |
$88.89 |
|
From 10 ha to less than 50 ha |
$1,815.00 |
|
From 50 ha to less than 100 ha |
$1,980.00 |
|
From 100 ha to less than 500 ha |
$2,640.00 |
|
From 500 ha or more |
$4,125.00 |
|
Note: Applications to register permanent forestry will not incur a fee. |
|
Emissions returns
The previous fee was $88.89 for the first 45 minutes, plus $115.55 per hour beyond that.
The new fee is fixed at $165.00 for standard forestry. Permanent forestry will not incur a fee.
Transferring ETS participation to another party
The previous fee was $88.89 for the first 45 minutes, plus $115.55 per hour beyond that.
The new fee is fixed at $990.00 for standard forestry. Permanent forestry will not incur a fee.
Emissions ruling
The previous fee was $408.70 for the first 4 hours, plus $102.17 per hour beyond that.
The new fee is $495.00 for the first 4 hours, plus $165.00 per hour beyond that.
Travel for purpose of checking that land is post-1989 forest land
The previous fee was $115.55 per hour plus disbursements.
The new fee is $165.00 per hour plus disbursements.
Removing one or more whole carbon accounting areas (standard forestry only)
There was previously no fee for this.
The new fee is $495.00.
Removing part of a carbon accounting areas (standard forestry only)
There was previously no fee for this.
The new fee is $1,072.50.
Request for a forest carbon stock table
There was previously no fee for this.
The new fee is a $1,980.00.
Background to this consultation
The Ministry for Primary Industries sought feedback on changes to cost recovery settings for the forestry Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Consultation opened on 8 September and closed at 5pm on 10 October 2022.
What was proposed?
For this consultation, we proposed increasing some fees, introducing a fee, and removing one.
Proposed fee increases
- Apply to register.
- Emissions return processing.
- Travel for purpose of checking that land is post-1989 forest land.
- Adding one or more Carbon Accounting Areas.
- Removing a Carbon Accounting Area (whole).
- Removing a Carbon Accounting Area (part).
- Notification of transmission of interest.
Proposed new fee
- Request for forest carbon stock table.
Proposed removal of an existing fee
- Application to be removed from the register in respect of all Carbon Accounting Areas.
This is the first set of changes to ETS cost recovery settings – we expect to open another consultation on a second set of changes early in 2023.
Full details are in the discussion document and further information is in the Cabinet paper.
Discussion document
Forestry in the ETS: Proposed updates to cost recovery settings [PDF, 651 KB]
Related document
Submissions are public information
Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.
People can also ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the content of submissions available unless we have good reason for withholding it. Those reasons are detailed in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.
If you think there are grounds to withhold specific information from publication, make this clear in your submission or contact us. Reasons may include that it discloses commercially sensitive or personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold details can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may direct us to release it.
