Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990

Regulated products that must be notified

75: Cancellation of product notification

You could also call this:

"Stopping a product from being sold because it's harmful or doesn't follow the rules"

The Director-General can cancel a product notification if they think the product is harmful to people. They can also cancel it if they believe the person who notified the product gave false information or did not follow the rules in section 71. The Director-General can cancel a product notification for other reasons too, like if the product has a prohibited substance or does not meet the requirements of this Act.

Before cancelling a product notification, the Director-General must give the person who notified the product a chance to say something. The Director-General must then tell the person in writing that the product notification is cancelled and explain why. If a product notification is cancelled, the person who notified the product must make sure it is not sold and cannot notify the product again unless the Director-General says it is okay.

If you sell a product after its notification has been cancelled, you can get a big fine, up to $400,000. You can also get a fine if you try to notify a cancelled product again without the Director-General's permission, up to $10,000 for a company or $5,000 for an individual. The Director-General must be satisfied that the reasons for the cancellation are no longer a problem or that the concerns have been fixed before they can allow the product to be notified again.

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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=LMS428702.

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Public healthCrime and justice > Criminal lawBusiness > Industry rules

74: Director-General may suspend product notification, or

"The boss can temporarily stop a product from being sold if it's thought to be harmful or doesn't follow the rules."

76: Appeals against decision to suspend or cancel product notification, or

"Challenging a decision to stop selling a product"

Part 4Regulated products that must be notified

75Cancellation of product notification

The Director-General may cancel a product notification of a notifiable product without any prior suspension if—
the Director-General has reasonable grounds to believe that the continued availability of the product poses an unacceptable risk of harm to people; or
the Director-General has reasonable grounds to believe the notifier has provided false, misleading, or incomplete information in the product notification or in response to a requirement under section 71; or
the Director-General has reasonable grounds for concern because of new information about the safety of the product; or
the Director-General has reasonable grounds to believe that the product contains a prohibited substance, a prohibited flavour, or a colouring substance, or contains a substance that exceeds any maximum limit; or
the Director-General has reasonable grounds to believe that the product does not comply with any applicable requirements in this Act or regulations.

Before cancelling a product notification of a notifiable product, the Director-General must give the notifier a reasonable opportunity to be heard.
The Director-General must tell the notifier in writing of the cancellation and give reasons.
If a product notification of a notifiable product is cancelled under this section or section 74, the notifier—
must ensure that the product is not sold by any person on and from the date on which the cancellation takes effect; and
must not complete another product notification for the product unless the Director-General is satisfied, on application by the product notifier, that—
1. the grounds for cancellation no longer apply; or
2. any concerns of the Director-General leading to the cancellation have been addressed appropriately.

A person who, without reasonable excuse, contravenes subsection (4)(a) commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding $400,000.
A person who, without reasonable excuse, contravenes subsection (4)(b) commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000, in the case of a body corporate, or to a fine not exceeding $5,000 in any other case.

Notes

Section 75: inserted, on 11 November 2020, by section 27 of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 62).
Section 75(1)(e): inserted, on 18 December 2024, by section 22 of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act (No 2) 2024 (2024 No 53).