Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990

Restrictions on advertising, promotion, sale, and distribution of regulated products - Sale of regulated products and toy regulated products to people under 18 years

41: Supplying regulated product to people younger than 18 years prohibited

You could also call this:

"It's against the law to give certain products to people under 18 years old."

Illustration for Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990

You cannot give a regulated product to someone under 18 years old in a public place. You also cannot give a regulated product to someone if you think they will give it to someone under 18 years old. If you break this rule, you can get a fine of up to $2,000.

If you are charged with breaking this rule, you can say it was not your fault if you did not know about it and you tried to stop it from happening. You can prove you tried to stop it by showing you checked the person's age before giving them the product. A public place is defined in section 2(1) of the Summary Offences Act 1981.

It does not matter if the person under 18 years old was buying the product for someone else who is over 18 years old. You can still get in trouble if you give a regulated product to someone under 18 years old, even if someone else sold it to you first.

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This page was last updated on 29 June 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS428472.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal lawHealth and wellbeing > Public health

40: Sale and delivery of regulated product to people younger than 18 years prohibited, or

"It's illegal to sell or deliver certain products to people under 18 years old."

42: Sale of toy regulated product to people younger than 18 years prohibited, or

"You can't sell certain toys to people under 18 years old."

Part 2Restrictions on advertising, promotion, sale, and distribution of regulated products
Sale of regulated products and toy regulated products to people under 18 years

41Supplying regulated product to people younger than 18 years prohibited

A person must not, in a public place,—
supply a regulated product to a person younger than 18 years; or
supply a regulated product to a person with the intention that it be supplied (directly or indirectly) to a person younger than 18 years.

A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding $2,000.
It is a defence to a charge under subsection (2) if the person charged proves that—
the contravention occurred without the person’s knowledge; and
the person took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to prevent the contravention.

A person charged with contravening subsection (1)(a) satisfies the requirements of subsection (3)(a) and (b) if the person proves that they have sighted an evidence of age document of the person to whom the product was supplied that indicated that the person was of or over the age of 18 years.
It is not a defence to a charge under subsection (2)—
that the person younger than 18 years was acquiring the product for or on behalf of, or as agent for, a person of or over the age of 18 years; or
that the person charged believed on reasonable grounds that the person younger than 18 years was acquiring the product for or on behalf of, or as agent for, a person of or over the age of 18 years.

Subsection (1) applies irrespective of any liability that may attach to a person who has sold the product to any other person.
In this section, public place has the meaning given to it in section 2(1) of the Summary Offences Act 1981.

Notes

Section 41: inserted, on 11 November 2020, by section 27 of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 62).