David Seymour backs watercress seller facing $600 fee to continue

Minister for Regulation, Act leader David Seymour, is backing a Hastings watercress seller who says he's at risk of being shut down.

Act leader David Seymour is backing a Hawke’s Bay watercress street seller told to stop until he paid more than $600 in registration fees after a Hastings District Council officer “observed the activity”.

Seymour, who is the Minister for Regulation, has written to the Minister for Food, Andrew Hoggard, saying the Hastings man has been the subject of “a bureaucratic exercise that risks shutting down a valued community tradition”.

It follows the Hawke’s Bay Today story of Jake* – who declined to reveal his real name out of fears of even more of a crackdown against him – who has been picking and selling watercress in his community for 30 years.

Jake says he is now only supplying watercress in Flaxmere “on occasion” and said it was now for donation or koha.

A council spokesperson said if he was using a koha box, he still needed to register as it was considered taking donations to sell the produce.

Seymour said his concern is that the current regulations err towards a bureaucratic exercise that risks shutting down a valued community tradition and placing barriers in front of makers and innovators.

“This case exemplifies how the act’s compliance requirements appear to disproportionately burden small-scale produce sellers, stifling microbusinesses,” Seymour said.

In an email to Jake, the council said under the Food Act, he had to cease trading until he was registered as a National Programme 1 business with the Hastings District Council.

The estimated cost was $619 with ongoing annual costs.

Seymour said he proposed “we, and our agencies, look for targeted deregulatory measures to ensure this case and similar sellers can continue operating without undue financial strain if the risks remain low”.

Jake said he was rapt to have Seymour’s support.

“I never thought he would support someone like me. Maybe there is a silver lining to all of this.

“I want to do this right. I have a dream of maybe opening a shop, creating jobs for whānau.”

He said he loves what he does. “It’s hard work but at the same time being out in Mother Nature is therapeutic.”

Jake said he had a lot of support from the community after he shared his story, including an offer from a local businessman to pay the fees and offer him some business advice.

He is still working through the process.

*Jake is not his real name

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.