The NZ Transport Agency is moving to the next phase of sustained engagement with the entry certification and border inspection industry as applications open for new appointments and reappointments within the industry.

“We received plenty of feedback during our successful engagement with the industry over the past 12 months,” general manager, regulatory services, Kane Patena says.

“Part of our engagement with the industry included visits to certifiers and inspectors to further understand the way their organisations operate and to ensure that our documentation reflected the best practice within the industry. This way of working with industry reflects our regulatory role and approach as a firm and fair regulator.

“As a result of these meetings with industry, we‘ve worked hard to improve guidance around ways for organisations to manage conflicts of interest and will be providing more support to inspectors and certifiers.”

Patena says the NZTA is committed to updating its notice of appointments to reflect the changes made as a result of the policy review.

“Improving safety by protecting the integrity of entry certification decisions has been our guiding principle in this work,” Patena says.

Applications close 20 December for the new Notices of Appointments. The NZTA has already provided certainty to organisations by extending the current notices out to mid-2020.