Who needs to register as a forestry adviser

A person provides a forestry adviser service “for reward” when they receive something of value in return for the service. The reward can be:

• money or something else of a similar value to the services provided.
• provided by the client receiving the forestry adviser services or by someone else.

Examples of a reward for a service include:

• a fee for service
• receiving a salary from an employer
• goods or services of a value similar to the money a person would have paid for the advice.

The person receiving the forestry adviser service may be the client even when they are not the person who is providing the reward.

Acting for someone else to buy or sell timber or other forest produce for them is a forestry adviser service. People who provide this service will need to register as a forestry adviser.

They need to register whether or not they also provide forestry adviser services.

“Timber” means:

• trees (excluding cuttings, suckers, and shoots)
• woody plants able to be milled
• branches, roots, and stumps of trees and other woody plants able to be milled
• logs, woodchips, wood products, veneer, tree ferns, and tree fern fibre.

“Other forest produce” means:

• trees and other plants
• the produce of trees and other plants
• earth, rock, sand, shingle, and minerals found in or removed from forest or other land being administered by the Minister of Forestry.

Forest produce is generally tangible things, for example trees and other plants.

See full definitions in the Forests Act 1949 – NZ Legislation

When something is not forest produce

Products that come from a forest habitat, but don't come from trees or other plants are generally not forest produce. Examples include acting for someone to buy or sell:

• kōura (freshwater crayfish) collected from a forest stream
• honey from bees that have visited a forest.

New Zealand Units (NZUs) represent one tonne of carbon dioxide in the Emissions Trading Scheme. They are not considered to be forest produce.

Examples of acting on behalf of someone when buying or selling timber or other forest produce

These are examples of when a person, A, acts for someone else to buy or sell timber or other forest produce:

• a person, A, acts as an agent for a third party
• a person, A, is a contractor to company B, A negotiates the sale and purchase for B
• a person, A, is retained by third-party B. Third-party B is contracted to act as an agent for C. A negotiates the contract for C’s sale and purchase of timber.

Dual registration as a log trader

A forestry adviser who acts as an agent to buy logs may be working for a business that needs to register as a log trader. We are considering options for exemptions so these agents do not need to register as both a log trader and forestry adviser.

Making inspections and preparing reports are forestry adviser services, when made as part of:

• providing forestry adviser services on the topics listed on this page
• acting on behalf of someone else in relation to their sale and purchase of timber or other forest produce.

This means that a person needs to meet the obligations of a registered forestry adviser when they are making inspections and preparing reports for clients. This includes keeping records of your advice to clients.

Read more about what a registered forestry adviser needs to do

An ordinary part of your business is something that is normal for you to do as part of your job, even if you are not doing it every day.

• Is providing the forestry adviser service activity a normal activity for your business? (for example, the service features in your systems, processes, advertising, staff, or training)
• Is the forestry adviser service provided frequently or regularly?
• Does the forestry adviser service involve significant amounts of resources (time or money)?
• Are forestry adviser services a source of income for the business?
• Are forestry adviser services offered to customers?

Is providing the service normal or otherwise unremarkable for your business?

A normal or otherwise unremarkable service is one that you have or will provide as a normal part of your business.

Indicators that something is normal include whether you have:

• provided the service before
• a process or procedure for providing the service
• advertised the service is available.

Is the service frequent?

The frequency of a service is about how often that service is provided. For example, the service is provided every month, or several times a year. If a service is provided frequently, it is more likely to be in the ordinary course of business.

Is the service regular?

A service is regularly provided when providing it is:

• predictable
• uniformly occurring, or
• consistent.

For example, providing the same service on 31 March every year would mean the service is regularly provided.

The more regularly a service is provided, the more likely it is to be in your ordinary course of business.

Does the service involve significant amounts of resources (time or money)?

A significant amount of time or money is an amount that makes up a significant part of your business activity.

Is the service a source of income for your business?

If you or your business is paid for the service, it is a source of income. This income may be in the form of money, or goods or services of the same value.

An activity that makes income is more likely to be in the ordinary course of business.

Is the service offered to customers?

A service is offered to customers when it is available for people outside your organisation, and they pay to access it. They may pay money or provide goods or services of the same value.

A service that is offered to customers is more likely to be in the ordinary course of your business.

A client is a person who receives a forestry adviser service. Clients can be a:

• landowner
• holder of forestry rights
• shareholder
• business partner in a joint venture
• Board of a company the adviser works for
• company that is not a wholly owned subsidiary
• trust
• community group.

Clients are identifiable and receive advice that is not provided to the general public (for example, on a website).

A client may be based offshore, that is, outside of New Zealand.

Clients must be outside your organisation

Clients do not include people who receive a forestry adviser service within the same organisation, unless they are the organisation’s Board.

This means a person does not need to register if the forestry adviser services they provide are:

• within the same business, or
• between a wholly (100%) owned subsidiary and parent company,

unless advice is being provided to the Board (for example, to inform a financial prospectus).

Example of "in-house" or client advice

Parent company A provides advice to both:

• Company B, a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent company A, and
• Company C, a company that is 60% owned by Parent company A.

In this example:

• advice between A and B is considered ‘in-house’
• advice between A and C is considered to be ‘to a client’.

If A or B provide advice externally to other parties (including to C, who is not wholly owned by A), the forestry adviser will need to be registered.

Examples of clients and rewards

Example one: one person is the client and another person provides the reward

Company A is a business providing forestry advice to people outside of Company A. Employee B is employed by Company A to provide forestry advice.

Employee B provides advice to a person outside Company A. The person outside Company A receiving the advice is a client of B for the purposes of registration.

Employee B receives a salary from Company A. This is a reward for providing the services.

Employee B needs to register as a forestry adviser.

Example two: no identifiable client

Employee C works for Company A. Company A pays Employee C a salary for providing forestry adviser services.

As part of Company A’s promotional work, Employee C publishes an article online about different harvesting techniques. The article includes opinions on the advantages of different harvesting techniques, and recommendations on what to consider with each approach.

There is no identifiable client as the article is available to the public. Therefore, Employee C is not providing a forestry adviser service and doesn't need to register.

Registration is not needed if the only forestry adviser service someone provides is incidental to their business. 

A service is incidental to your business (in other words, not an ordinary part of your business) when it is:

• a minor result of another activity. An example is advice on trees which may need pruning or removal to protect power lines
• given to enable another activity that is not a forestry adviser service. An example is mapping a forest to work out the best place to put beehives.

Registration is not needed if someone only provides forestry adviser services about space plantings, riparian strips, or farm shelter belts. These terms are generally understood to have the meanings below.

Space planting

Planting trees at intervals in pasture for soil conservation and/or shade for stock.

Riparian strip

The land and bank next to a body of water, including the area where direct interaction occurs between land and water systems, This land is important for the management of water quality and ecological values.

Shelter belt

A row or rows of trees or hedges planted to partially block wind flow.

Farm

A landholding whose activities include agriculture.

Registration is not needed if someone only provides forestry advice services:

• as a professional in a different occupation to forestry advice, and
• in an occupation that is licensed or registered under another Act.

Examples of other registrations include:

• the Real Estate Agents Act 2008
• the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008
• the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006, or
• the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants Act 1996.

Registration is not needed if someone only provides forestry adviser services as a Minister of the Crown or a Member of Parliament.

Registration is not needed if there is an exemption for the class of forestry adviser services someone provides. The exemption may contain terms and conditions that the person will need to meet to rely on the exemption.

There are currently no exemptions made under section 63ZZN(1) (c) of the Act.

Registration is not needed if the topic of the forestry adviser service is:

• undertaking an operational forestry activity
• running a nursery for forest species, providing nursery species for sale without providing advice
• providing general advice that is not client-specific or forestry asset specific, including policy advice
• providing education and training functions, including organised education, primary school through to tertiary and vocational education
• providing education and training functions to the public
• advice on wider social benefits of green space and connection to nature
• advice on health and wellbeing benefits of being in forests
• advice on health and wellbeing benefits of products derived from forests
• advertising services that do not respond to a client’s specific circumstances
• advice and creation of District Plans and Regional Plans that do not consider site specific environmental controls.