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

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

You could also call this:

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

Illustration for Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990

If you sell a toy that is a regulated product, you must not sell it to someone younger than 18 years. If you do, you can get in trouble and have to pay a fine of up to $2,000. You can say it was not your fault if you did not know you were selling to someone under 18 and you tried to make sure you were not.

You can prove you tried to make sure by showing you checked the person's age document and it said they were 18 or older. If you checked their age document, it can help you show you did the right thing.

If someone under 18 buys a toy regulated product from you, even if they say they are buying it for someone older, you can still get in trouble. It does not matter if you believed they were buying it for someone older, you can still be charged.

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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=LMS428473.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal lawHealth and wellbeing > Public health

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

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

43: Point-of-sale purchase age information, or

"Stores must display a sign saying they don't sell certain products to people under 18."

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

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

A person must not sell a toy regulated product 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.

The person charged 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 sold that indicated that the person was of or over the age of 18 years.
Subsection (4) does not affect the generality of subsection (3).
It is not a defence to a charge under subsection (2) that—
the person to whom the product was sold was buying it for or on behalf of, or as agent for, a person of or over the age of 18 years; or
the person charged believed on reasonable grounds that the person to whom the product was sold was buying it for or on behalf of, or as agent for, a person of or over the age of 18 years.

Notes

Section 42: inserted, on 11 November 2020, by section 27 of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 62).